The Sins that Bind Us
by Amerachan
Summary: As a dying flame in the rain of reality, Roy struggles not to go insane as he reads a book lent to him. But is there method to the author's madness? RoyRiza COMPLETE! Rated for sadism evil things and sexual implications
1. Chapter 1

The Sins that Bind Us

He sat in a chair, next to the window, watching as the rain fell in torrents from the sky, pounding against the window and ground, mercilessly. _This is the fourth day in a row_, he thought. _Day and night it's been raining. When will it stop?_

"When will it stop!" Roy Mustang screamed at the walls, rising from his chair.

He hated the rain. Flames would not burn in the rain. Those menacing drops of water from the sky seemed to fall on the days he woke up in bad moods, on the days when he really wanted to go outside and snap his fingers like mad, just watching the fire as it swirled around him as he stood in his yard. It was almost as though the rain fell just in spite of him on those days, just to make him angrier. So when he walked to work, grumbling under the protection of the umbrella, he would keep a gloved hand in a pocket, waiting for the rain to stop, _hoping_ that it would stop, just for a minute, so that he could snap his fingers and watch as the flames twisted around him.

It was on these kind of days when he would arrive at work with a scowl on his face, a dangerous, foreboding scowl, that he quickly turned into a smirk as malicious as a lion's grin. His subordinates feared him then, with a look like that on his face. They rarely spoke, except in whispers to each other. They followed his orders perfectly on those days, too frightened to admit it if they made a mistake. He would sit at his desk, signing papers authorizing this sort of mission, agreeing to pay for so and so damages made by Fullmetal. Only his First Lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye was brave enough to approach his desk, and it was only to her that he spoke with a sort of kindness in his voice.

So now, here he stood, glaring at the walls of his small home as if demanding an answer to his rain predicament. Now that he thought about it, he had stayed awake the entire night, reading reports, writing them, glaring at the window. He looked at his clock. It was four in the morning now. A small hardcover book lay unopened on his desk, which was now cleared of all military related materials. He walked over to the desk and picked it up. The cover read simply; _The Sins that Bind Us._ He recalled now how Hawkeye had lent him this book from her large collection of novels. She had commented on how he was overly stressed and a good book would calm him down when he needed it.

"Besides," she had told him as she held the book out to him in his office that day. "It's a very good book."

For him, reading had not been much of a hobby to him. It must of been due to the countless reports that were forced upon him. Or maybe it was because for a while, he read the newspaper every day at lunch break, and it only held bad news. That's why he had stopped reading the newspaper. Novels, he felt, were a waste of time. They depicted a seemingly ordinary life, and then the main character goes through some horrible life or death situation. But in the end, everything turns out fine.

He could have turned the book down, told her no thank you. But he didn't, maybe _couldn't _turn something down from _her._ She always seemed to be able to melt down that ice that he surrounded his heart in day after day. How? How could she do that, when even _he_ had trouble doing so for himself?

He gave up and sighed, sitting in the small chair in front of his desk, the book in hand. For a few minutes, he just stared at the cover. It was a simple looking book. Rather thin, it looked to be about two or maybe three hundred pages in length. The cover was black, and the letters of its title were scrawled across the front in delicate gold paint. To him it was just an ordinary book, or should have been anyways. The title seemed to hit him hard, like a brick being thrust into his stomach by a catapult.

"The Sins that Bind Us," he read to himself.

He carefully lifted the cover and found the first page of the novel and began to read.

_It was too dark to see exactly what he was doing. The street lamps were all off, short circuited by the lightning that burst through the night sky. But he could see, as though it were bright daylight. They were dead, both of them, laying in a pool of their blood, rich and dark red, the rain mixing with it, diluting it slowly, atom by atom. _What have I done?_ he thought. His mind was racing. They were dead, he had ki–_

Roy slammed the book shut, breathing heavily, sweat trickling down his face. It was so resembling, so alike, he suddenly felt crushed under the weight of the sins he had committed during Ishbal. All those lives he took and the memories that went with them seemed to force open the door in his mind that he kept shut so tightly. He looked at its cover again. _The Sins that Bind Us._ The words seemed to echo in his mind, racing, scurrying like tiny mice across his brain. Distantly, an alarm clock burst into fanfare. It was five in the morning now. Time to get ready for work.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm so happy! I've already gotten wonderful reviews. This makes me wanna post forever! Ahaha! Well, anyways, here's Chapter 2, so enjoy!

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By the time Roy arrived at Eastern Headquarters, quietly opening the door, his anger had subsided, and the rain had stopped, the dark, ominous clouds peeling away from one another to reveal the blue sky that had cowered behind them for four long days. All the way there, he had snapped his ungloved fingers, just to relieve the tension that built up in the muscles. Without a word, the Colonel walked into his office and sat at his desk.

Instantly, he frowned at his Inbox. It was stacked nearly a foot high with annoying paperwork. Just what he needed after all that dreadful rain. He sighed and decided that it couldn't be helped. After all, a lot of things happened when it rained, because people seemed to think that the military would melt in the rain, or something of the sort. That's certainly the way Roy felt when it rained, like he would melt. _I'm just a small, weak little flame trying to survive in the rain,_ he thought.

He picked up the paper at the top of the file and skimmed it. Something about someone trying to rob the library or something. He couldn't be sure. The words all seemed blurred, meshing together in a long, illegible line. _What kind of idiot robs a library?_ he asked himself. _What could one gain by stealing from a place that only holds books? _Then he imagined Fullmetal, bursting into the library in the middle of the night, ranting and raving, saying something along the lines of, 'I demand every book you have here that even _mentions_ alchemy!' It was an amusing thought, and he chuckled to himself, stopping as he heard his office door open.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye stepped into the office, shutting the door behind her and saluting, holding a small stack of papers under her left arm. Her hair was pinned up as it usually was, the tufts of gold imprisoned behind the clip. Her face reflected the same kindness she showed only to Roy, the Elrics, and her dog, Black Hayate.

"Good morning, Sir," she said plainly. Her voice seemed to ring throughout the office, like a sweet choir singing in a church.

He nodded as she dropped her salute.

"And a good morning to you, Lieutenant."

He smirked as he always did, picturing how she would look in a cute black miniskirt, her thin legs revealed, the flesh smooth. These images were erased from his mind when Hawkeye turned to her desk, which was at a ninety degree angle from his own, with somewhat of a desolate look on her face. He tried not to show it, but his eyes began to reflect a certain concern.

"Is everything alright, Hawkeye?" he asked as there was a scratch and a whine at the door.

"I'm fine, Colonel," she replied distantly as she stood and opened the door, allowing her nearly forgotten pup, Hayate, to scamper into the room, pawing at her navy blue military pants. She smiled lightly and bent down, picking him up and petting him. "I just haven't been sleeping well I suppose."

"Anything you'd like to talk about?" he inquired as he too stood and pet the rambunctious pup.

There was a long, awkward silence as he pulled his hand away and looked at Riza. She ignored, or maybe, avoided his gaze and focused her attention on the dog as he nuzzled his cold wet nose against the sleeve of her uniform. Something in that silence made Roy uneasy, rather worried for Riza. It was not a big deal for her to be emotionless at work, but when in the company of Roy, she seemed to let loose a little, and she would smile and laugh and be...contented. But now, she seemed, not emotionless, but distressed, as though something bothered her, but Roy couldn't place it.

"Have you started the book yet?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, I have. In fact, I'd like to speak to you about it. Are you free tonight?"

After thinking for a moment, staring at the ceiling as though it would reveal the answer, she looked at him and gave him the smile he had come to know.

"Yes, I am."

"Good, then would you like to talk about it over dinner this evening?" he was careful that his voice only hinted interest in speaking of the book, rather than the hope of spending an evening, just with her, without military worries.

She smiled a little brighter, a smile he had not seen upon her face until today. He couldn't help but grin back at her. That smile of hers was beautiful on her face.

"Yes, I would like that," she said nodding.

"Good, then I shall see you at seven tonight at my house. I trust you know its location," he stated. "And Hayate may join us if you wish to bring him."

"Sounds like a plan," she said and nodded again. She then walked back to her desk, setting Hayate upon her lap as she began to tackle her day's work.


	3. Chapter 3

After inviting Hawkeye to his house for that evening, Roy eagerly attacked his papers, eager to get the day done and over with. His mind was racing. What outfit would she wear? Would she wear makeup? What the heck was he going to cook for dinner! Mostly, when he remember he was hungry and remembered that he actually had food, he would make a small dinner. Chicken fillet. Steak. Sometimes the occasional fish. But he had never made dinner for anyone else but himself. He had lived alone ever since he joined the military, and whenever he ate with anyone but himself, it was always at Hughes' house, and Gracia cooked. All he could hope for was that he could think of something to cook and not make a fool out of himself for it.

His bad mood had returned. There were numerous papers in his Inbox which involved Fullmetal and his infamous path of destruction. _Little kids shouldn't be playing with cannons and dethroning cardinals, blowing up half a town to save a few lives or eating so much for that matter._ The kid ate more in a day than Roy could in a week! Where could he put it all in that short little body of his?

Just then, there was a hard, hollow tap on the door, followed by Hawkeye's footsteps as she stood, lifting Hayate, and walked to the door, opening it.

"Speak of the devil," Roy muttered to himself.

The young blonde-haired Edward Elric practically stampeded into the room, slamming his hands on Roy's desk, nearly making him mess up a signature. He was followed by his younger brother, Alphonse, who meekly inched into the room, bowing to Hawkeye and thanking her for opening the door for them. He then slowly slid behind his brother, and if he had the ability to wear expressions with that large metal head of his, Roy was sure it would emanate shame.

Before Edward could spurt out the words of rage Roy was sure was coming, he held up a hand, silencing the boy as he calmly finished his signature, put the pen down, looked over the document to make sure everything was in order and set the paper on top of the Outbox pile. He took his time doing this, checking things he normally wouldn't have, because he knew it would tick off the young, short-tempered Elric. And indeed it did. Through the time Roy spent looking things over, he grunted and tapped his fingers on the desk. And when the paper floated to the top of the Outbox, he slammed his hands on the desk again, a hollow, metallic sound coming from the automail hand as it hit the wood.

"Darn it Colonel!" Edward screamed as he stared Roy in the eyes. "Just what do you think I am, your little dog! You send me on these stupid missions to towns that _hate_ State Alchemists, and tell me to solve their problems. They practically try to gun me down when I step foot on their land! What are you trying to do! Get me killed!"

The Colonel just smirked as he glanced at Hawkeye, who was quietly holding a hand to her mouth to stifle a small chuckle. The outburst was indeed amusing, and Hayate barked and wagged his tail in Riza's lap.

"Calm down, Fullmetal. It's nothing of the sort. It's merely to test your skills in trying situations. Think about it. What if one day, an officer other than myself gave you such a mission without prior experience, and the people there hated State Alchemists even more than the towns to which you have been assigned? Suppose as soon as they saw you, they opened fire. What would you do, Fullmetal? Just how would you handle the situation?"

"Er...well...I," the boy stammered, looking surprised at the question.

"Precisely. The fact of the matter is, Fullmetal, most of the people in the country despise the military, and would not hesitate to gun down a 'dog of the military' on sight. You as a State Alchemist need to learn what to do in these sort of situations should one occur without warning. You _knew_ these towns hated State Alchemists because the briefing I gave to you in your assignment _told _you they did. Suppose you randomly went to a town, off duty, without any knowledge of the place, and they too hated military dogs? Normally, you might run away or get shot, but now that you have experience, you know just how to go about things. That is, if you learned anything other than how to beat people up with things other than alchemy during these missions."

Edward grumbled and took his hands from the desk, folding them across his chest. He paced for a moment, glaring at him from time to time, until Roy stood and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, looking him in the eyes. The look stopped Ed, and his eyes widened in surprise. Riza also stopped what she was doing and glanced at them, a look of confusion on her face.

"Fullmetal, Edward, don't get my intentions mixed up. I do this in the event that, God forbid, another Ishbal comes to plague our times of peace," his voice was concerned and cold at the same time, hinting that to speak these words hurt him as they brought back images of charred bodies, bloodied bodies, and the stagnant stench of death.

After staring into Edward's scared eyes for a few moments, he stood and cleared his throat, deciding to change the mood. He arched his back, putting both hands on it as he did so, groaning as though in pain.

"Geez, Fullmetal, bending over like that for so long made my back hurt. I mean, I had to bend so low, what with your height and all," he said, grinning at the ceiling.

"What did you say!" Ed shouted as he tackled Roy to the ground.

Colonel Mustang pushed Edward off of him and stood, brushing himself off and smirked.

"I said you're_ short_, Fullmetal," he emphasized.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT YOU NEED AN ELECTRON MICROSCOPE TO SEE!" Edward bellowed as Alphonse grabbed him under the arms to prevent him from attacking the Colonel.

"Brother, please," Al pleaded. "Don't make a scene, ok?"

Calming down for his brother, Ed became still, though he glared acidly at the Colonel.

"Anyways, I don't have anything other missions for you for the next few days, so, go drink some milk, take some growing pills or do whatever it is you do when you have free time," Roy said, grinning and waving him off.

Before Edward could say anything, Al carried his brother out, nodding to the two officers, and disappeared as the door shut behind him, the armor clanking and Edward screaming all the way down the hall.

* * *

Just as a sidenote, I HAD to do the height thing. There is no way Fullmetal Alchemist would be so good without everyone making fun of poor Ed. The growing pills...I dunno where that came from, but if you can find out what I was on at the time I wrote this section, let me know, cause I want some more!


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Colonel Roy Mustang returned to his house after work that day, the clouds had completely dispersed and the day had warmed up beautifully. On his way, he had taken off his navy blue military jacket and slung it around his shoulder, revealing the white dress shirt he wore underneath it. All evidence of the rain had disappeared with the exception of a few small puddles by the road. 

As he unlocked the door, he wondered what time it was. He never really payed much attention to time unless it involved getting up and going to work. When he was told to go home, he would just nod and walked out the door, not bothering to look at the clock. He currently had no idea how far away seven o'clock was right now, but he knew that hour existed and it had been the first time that had come to his mind when he decided to ask Hawkeye to dinner. He wondered if he would have any time to just laze around the house before getting ready. The child in him wanted to go out into the backyard and play on the swing that had been there since he moved into the house. He could have taken it down at any time, but never found the time or patience to do so, and when he was in an interesting mood, he would venture outside and sit on the swing, rocking back and forth on the toes of shoes, if he wore any, and looking up at the sky.

Walking into his house, he set his jacket on the sofa, which sat roughly three feet diagonal from the door. He put his keys on the table next to the sofa and drifted into his bedroom, where he took a chance and looked at the clock. Three thirty-seven. That gave him roughly three and a half hours to prepare, more or less. First he changed into a more casual, around the house outfit. Shrugging off his shirt, he peered around the room, almost timidly. The thought of changing in any other room but the bathroom made him rather nervous, for some reason. He sighed, feeling stupid. _Idiot,_ he thought. _What kind of sick freak peers inside the window of a military dog?_

After changing into a light green shirt and shorts, he wandered into the kitchen where he searched for something not pre-made or microwavable that he could cook _and_ make look nice. He sighed again and hung his head. Things looked grim. All he had was some TV dinners, some cans of vegetables, a large steak, some wine, milk, coffee, water, liquor; Roy wasn't much of a drinking man, but when out with Hughes or sometimes just sort of feeling in the mood, he would drink a bit, and his tastes varied, so he often had a wide array of alcohol. Most of it stayed in there for months.

After deciding the steak would be the best bet along with some rice and a random vegetable, he walked into his study and over to his desk, where the book Hawkeye had lent him still lay. He glanced at the clock on the opposite wall. It read four o'clock now. Strange, until now, he hadn't realized how just how many clocks he had. There seemed to be one in every room. He sat in the chair at his desk and pulled the book open again, willing himself to read the words.

_...They were dead, he had killed them. It was his fault. They had just been protecting everything they believed in. He had been given orders, true, but he could've refused them, could have told them to run away. They had a child for crying out loud! He had ended their life, and in essence, ended the child's life too. He wondered how the child would live on now, without parents..._

The words stopped abruptly in front of him.No, it couldn't be, could it? It couldn't have been written about Ishbal, about Roy and what he had done. He looked at the title page of the book, to find the author, but none could be found. The page only read; _The Sins that Bind Us_, _published by the Eastern Publishing Company in Lior_. He sighed, frustrated, and went back to the page, forcing himself to read the words, to _make_ them make sense.

_...He couldn't stand it. There was an immense wave of guilt that washed over him, drowned him in it. He couldn't shake the feeling that God was watching him now, shaking his head in shame, wondering how such a good man could do such a horrible thing. In angst and disgust of himself, he removed his loaded gun from the holster at his waist and held it to his head, falling to his knees, tears of fear, self-hatred and dread coming in a stream down his cheeks. He squeezed the trigger, hesitant, then shut his eyes and..._

"_No, wait," came a voice from behind him._

"_Go away," he said. "I deserve to die. It's all my fault. They were innocent, and I killed them."_

"_Yes, but I was the one who ordered you to. And if anyone should die, it should be me. But listen to me. I'm going to leave now. I can't change the fact that I gave you that order, but if I live a better life, and help people, maybe, just maybe, I can repent."_

_And with that, the man behind him left, and he dropped the gun, one his hands and knees crying. He cried because he was thankful the man had stopped him from dying. He wept for the sheer terror of what God would do to him now. Perhaps He would strike him down, make him die in horrible pain. And so he sat for what seemed like days, curling into fetal position, weeping..._

A small wet spot appeared on the page of the book, and Roy Mustang snapped out of the book induced trance and put a finger to his eye. He was crying. A book had made him cry. But how? _Because it's like Ishbal. Almost exactly like Ishbal, _the voice in his head told him.

"I know," he said aloud to the voice as he put the book down. "I know what it is. But how?"

Deciding he didn't want the voice to answer, he stood and started humming as he walked into his bathroom. He smelled like sweat, work and cigarettes. It was that damned Havoc, who smoked like a train all day as he passed in and out of Roy's office. The smell lingered on his skin and he cringed.

"One day, those things are gonna kill you, Jean Havoc," he said to the bathroom mirror.

Stepping out of his pants and boxers, Roy looked at the hamper, making sure he had put his dinner clothes there. He sighed again as he took off his shirt. It was his first date in a while, and first ever with someone like Hawkeye. _Someone like Hawkeye._ What did _that_ mean? She was a subordinate, his coworker. Yet, he couldn't help but feel a certain wave of affection toward her. She, above everyone else in that office, had stayed by Roy's side as he climbed up the ranks, making his way to becoming Fuhrer. It was Riza who constantly kept him in check, reminding him that certain behaviors could prevent another swift promotion. It seemed she'd grown on him over the years.

He turned on the shower and waited as the water got hot, spilling steam into the bathroom. After it warmed to his liking, he stepped in and let the water run over his body, turning his face upwards to the showerhead, shutting his eyes. The shower was one form of falling water Roy could actually tolerate. He liked it only because he could control when it fell and how much of it fell. He could not do that of rain, and that was, among many reasons he hated the rain. Standing in the falling water, not bothering to wash himself just yet, he had the chance to really relax, and his tense muscles fell slack as he breathed in the hot air.

"'Be thou for the people,'" Roy recited to himself.

It was of course the motto of the State Alchemists. To most, it didn't really have much of a meaning, but as he was growing up and learned that phrase, he took it to heart. To him, _be thou for the people_ meant that to be in the military meant taking care of those who needed help. To become the strong miliary officer, but never lose sight of the common man, the less fortunate, the less powerful. In Roy's eyes, most people didn't enforce that phrase, didn't incorporate it into their work, their lives. They lived and worked like they were high and mighty, not really caring if a town needed money, or if a man couldn't pay the doctor's bill after his daughter fell ill. It disgusted Roy to know that most people ignored that saying. When he became Fuhrer, that would change. He would make peoples' lives better, choose only those who shared his views to hold a higher status. When he became Fuhrer, no one would be oppressed. He would make sure of it, no matter what it took.


	5. Chapter 5

This section was a heck of a lot of fun to write. I think I spent roughly an hour and a half on it, so I'm excited. I love Hughes and his role to others, he's so much fun! Anyways, thank you everyone for all those lovely reviews for this and my mini stories!

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After work let out, Riza watched as the colonel left, saluting as she did every day. But she was anxious to leave. After she was sure he was gone, she made sure everything was cleaned and prepped for the next day and then walked calmly out with Hayate walking obediently by her side. When she was far away from the Eastern Headquarters building, she looked at Hayate and smiled.

"How about a race, boy?" she asked him with excitement in her voice.

The pup yipped twice and wagged his tail. She nodded and got into a running position.

"Ready, steady...GO!" she screamed as she broke into a sprint down the road.

Instantly after Riza began to speed down the cemented path everyone that else called a road, Hayate barked and darted after her. Within seconds, they were neck and neck. With her house in sight, Riza pushed herself harder, with Hayate following suit. Reaching her lawn, she placed a hand on a board of the fence that surrounded her property and flung herself over it, rolling onto the grass laughing. Hayate, who could not jump over the fence just yet as it was too tall for his young, puppy body watched his owner catch her breath as he stopped in front of the fence and sat.

Riza stood and walked over to the fence and laughed again, seeing her pup sitting like a scolded child in front of the gate.

"Sorry, Hayate. But you know, opposable thumbs and all," she said to the dog, realizing instantly it didn't make much sense except to say that she was human.

The young dog whined as she opened the gate to let him in the property. The whine was almost a complain, as if to say, 'Please, as if it's _my_ fault I'm not human?'

She giggled as she stooped down to pat the dog once on the head before walking to the door and opening it. She never bothered to lock her door when she left the house. She lived in a town about two miles away from the Eastern city, and it was filled with respectable people. Besides, it's not like she really had anything worth stealing. Being in the military meant traveling a lot and moving about half as often, so she thought it best to only have the necessary items so that when moving time came, she would be traveling light. Of course, this wasn't to say that she didn't splurge on herself every once in a while. Every month or so, she would wander into the Eastern city and look around the expensive shops, Hayate trailing close behind her. Often times she would just window shop, or walk into the store, looking around, but never really buying anything. If she found something she really liked, she'd get it. But mostly her splurges involved sweets.

Now as she opened the door and walked into the foyer, she heard the noise of the phone ringing on the table in the living room, which was beyond the door on the left. She shut the door, kicking off her military boots and shuffling into the room, picking up the phone with a rather exasperated sigh.

"Hello?" she asked the receiver in monotone.

"Riza? Is that you? I just wanted to know. Are you free tonight? My wife is cooking the most wonderful dinner tonight, not that she doesn't always, but she wants to know if you'd like to come over tonight," the familiar voice interrogated.

"I'm sorry Maes, but I already have plans for tonight," she said slightly annoyed.

"What could be more important than eating my wife's cooking?" Hughes complained.

"I'm going over to Roy's tonight for dinner."

"Ooooohhhhhh!" Maes' voice came in a high pitched, suspicious tone from the receiver. "I get it! Oh, that's just wonderful! You know when I met Gracia I had the hardest ti--"

"It's not like that," she interjected rather annoyed. "I'm going to have dinner with him as we discuss a book I lent him recently. It's nothing more than that."

"Oh isn't it?" Hughes accused playfully.

"It isn't," she said coldly as she hung up, placing her thumb and forefinger to her temples.

Hayate, who had followed her as she rushed to pick up the phone and sat on the floor, yipped excitedly, as though answering in Maes' absence.

"IT'S NOT A DATE!" she screamed at the walls, throwing up her arms.

Heatedly, she walked out of the living room and up the stairs in the foyer, stepping lightly into her bedroom. It was a small room, containing only her bed, dresser and vanity. The closet stood in the corner farthest from the room, its contents hidden by a mahogany door. Walking over to the door, Riza swept it open, watching as the dresses, skirts and blouses swung from side to side from the change in air flow._ It's not a date, right? We're just going to discuss a book. Nothing more. It's not a big deal._ But she couldn't help but feel a small flutter in her chest as she thought about the matter, and it frustrated her somewhat.

"This is silly," she said to the room. "It's just the Colonel. I've known him for years. We're good friends and nothing more. Good friends can have dinner with one another, can they not?"

Hayate yipped again, but from behind her this time as she began to sift through the rack of clothes.

"Yes, that's right Hayate. There's no need to get too fussed up about this."

After a while, she pulled out a black miniskirt and red blouse, sizing them up with one another, placing the blouse just above the skirt as she looked at the combination thoughtfully. In an instant, she frowned. If she went to Roy's house in a miniskirt, who knows what he'd do, how he would react. He would probably get a lecherous grin on his face and scoot next to her, trying to use some cheesy pickup line that he thought was clever. Either that, or he'd do what Jean Havoc always did when he sees a 'hot girl,' and that was get a nosebleed and drool all over himself, letting his ever lit cigarette crash to the floor. She sighed. _Men are hopeless._

After nearly an hour of searching and matching, she hesitantly decided that the miniskirt and red blouse combination was her best bet. It seemed to be the only thing that looked good. And she had tried every combination she could think of. She even held every dress in front of her uniformed body as she stood in front of the body mirror on the inside of the door to see how it would look. Exasperated, she set the outfit on the bed and fell on her back on the other side, sighing deeply. To her, it seemed like she was making much more of a fuss over this dinner than she needed to. But why? _You like him!_ Hughes' voice teased in her mind.

"No, I don't," she argued with the voice.

_Do so._

"Do not."

_Do so!_

"Do not!"

_Do so do so do so do so!_

"Do no–,"she stopped short, deciding it was stupid to be fighting with a voice in her head.

Frustrated, she sat up and patted the bed next to her, whistling once. Catching the hint, Hayate jumped onto the bed and commenced to shower her face in dog kisses, licking her relentlessly until she stopped him with a finger to the nose. He looked at her as though puzzled and cocked his head to the side, as if asking what was wrong with her.

"Oh, boy," she complained to the dog. "I just don't know what to do. Or how to feel for that matter. I mean, the Colo– _Roy, is_ a nice man and all, but...I don't know, what do you think? You think I'm in love with that man, too?"

He yipped and pounced on her chest, forcing her to lay on her back again as he bombarded her with another wave of licks. Then the phone rang again. There was another phone on the bedside table next to her, and she put a hand upon Hayate's head before reaching for the receiver.

"It better not be Hughes again," she muttered to herself before picking up and answering. "Hello?"

"Riza?" Jean Havoc's voice came from the other end, rather nervously. "Is it true you're gonna start dating Roy now?"

Growling, she slammed the receiver down and screamed, frustrated. The dog yelped and jumped before pawing gently at the cloth of her uniform.

"Wait," she thought aloud. "How did Jean get my number?"

The answer came in the form of another ring, and Riza picked up the receiver again, hesitantly.

"Hello?"

"I know exactly what you're thinking right now! 'What should I wear? Should I wear makeup? Maybe I should look all pretty.' But let me tell you Riza, he'll love you no matter what you look like. Love is blind as they say!"

"Hughes, give it a rest already!" she shouted abusing the phone once more.

She sighed again as she got up and removed her uniform so that she only wore her undergarments and, too lazy to move, plopped down on the bed again as though she was weighted by bricks. Everyone was making such a big deal out of this, and she was sure that by the time she got to work tomorrow, everyone at the office would know. She couldn't be sure anymore if she was in the military or in high school.

In the midst of these thoughts, Hayate had sniffed around the entire bed, inspecting to see if any new smells had appeared upon it. Whenever he found one, like the smell of a different shampoo on the pillow, he would dig his nose deep into it, sniffing, then lift his head and sneeze. Satisfied that nothing went unchanged on the bed with out his knowing, he rolled on it, giving his scent back to the sheets. Then he padded over to Riza and regarded her with a puzzled cock of the head before stepping back on to her now bare stomach, and then, curiously, dug his cold wet nose into the flesh.

"GAAAAH!" Riza screamed and jumped up, taking hold of the puppy by the shoulders just in time to prevent him from being ricocheted across the room.

"What were you doing?" she demanded as though she expected a real answer.

The pup merely yipped and wagged his tail. For him, that was the perfect answer. Instead of a laugh and a pet on the head, Hayate received a sigh as Riza sat down on the bed and placed him on her lap, stroking his back.

"You're a crazy dog, you know that?"

Another yip was the reply.

"Listen, when we go to Roy's, you have to be on your _best_ behavior, got it?"

Silence. The dog had wrestled from her grasp and jumped off the bed, sniffing the room, inspecting again.

"You'd better not use this room for your potty," she warned with a deadly tone in her voice.

When Hayate merely looked at her and sneezed, she sighed again and looked at the clock that sat next to the phone of the bedside table. It read five forty-nine. She got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom, deciding it was time for a shower before she got changed.

When the water was set and she was letting the the steam fill her lungs as the hot water caressed her skin, she wondered what Roy would make for dinner. Honestly, she had never seen him cook, much less tasted his food. A guy like him could be so dense, that he couldn't recognize that a woman like her would refined tastes, and a TV dinner would just not do. But it wasn't a date right? Really, one could serve just about anything when just discussing a book. Yet she couldn't help but imagine Roy in a fancy suit, serving her the most delicious meal at candlelight. At the appearance of this image in her mind, a small blush crept across her face. Realizing this was so, she shook her head, as though to fling it off into the wall of the shower door.

By the time she got out of the shower, it was five fifty-three. The walk to Roy's would take roughly twenty minutes, give or take a few. So she had to be ready and out the door before six forty. Toweling her hair, she looked back at the closet and saw the dresses she had rejected. There was a really nice red one that she loved. It was a deep, blood red color, and had a collar that crept halfway up the neck. There were no sleeves, at it stopped midway to the shoulders. Coming down from the throat, there was a small cut-out shaped like a heart where the collar bones met. It then followed the wearer's curves snugly, but not _too_ snug, down until it stopped just below the thighs. It really was her favorite dress, and she was itching to wear it. _Maybe sizing it up with my uniform still on was a mistake,_ she thought. Putting the towel on the bed, she took the dress from its hanger and slipped into it. She put her hands on her hips as she spun side to the in front of the mirror, examining her look. Perfect. It looked great. Now she needed to do something about her hair.


	6. Chapter 6

After getting out of the shower and drying himself, Roy Mustang had gotten changed into a dressy/casual white button up shirt and black slacks. He combed his hair and put on a small drop of cologne on himself. Then he brushed his teeth, making sure they practically sparkled. Then he had ventured down into the basement and dragged up a small round dining table, setting it into the 'dining room' which he usually used for a library. This library wasn't really one, it only held copied records of missions and books on alchemy. Also were some record books which gave information on every officer in the military up to date. He tended to want to know who he could be possibly teamed up with in any given mission and what their capabilities were. It also held some art supplies. Fancying himself someone of an artist, Roy would spend what little free time he had sketching things, like the way the sun rose and set behind his house. Currently, he was in the process of drawing Riza from a picture he had obtained in pursuit of his records.

Wondering what she would think if she saw this, he dragged his bookcase and desk into his study, so that only the table and to satin covered chairs remained in the dining room. He searched his basement again for candles, and he found them, along with a gold painted holder. So he placed them upon the middle of the table, setting his glove next to one. He'd light them later.

Afterwards, he decided it was time to cook, and so he went about doing this task. In school, he had taken quite a few cooking classes, so her knew quite a bit, but he could never be as quite as good as those ones who work in those fancy restaurants. He sauteed the steak with a light mushroom and lemon sauce, and after squeezed the slightest amount of orange juice over it. Instead of rice, he fried some noodles in the same pan, which still held the mushroom sauce. He then cut some leek and other vegetables and tossed them into a salad with lettuce. He set everything on plates, except for the salad, which he put in small bowls, normally used to rice. He had no salad bowls. Satisfied as to how the food all looked together, he stepped back and smiled. This was great. Except there was just one problem. One could not eat steak with chopsticks, and fried noodles eaten with a fork looked odd. Exasperated, he decided both styles of eating utensils would have to be used. So then he went about setting the table, putting chopsticks on a small jade chopstick holder, and a fork and knife in the customary settings on top of a napkin. He then set out his best looking wine glasses, hoping Riza didn't have anything against wine. He glanced at the clock again. Six fifty-four. She'd be here soon. Now he picked up his glove and, with an almost manic grin on his face, snapped his fingers and watched as the flame maneuvered from from one candle to the other, hovering over the wick until a small flame grew from it. It did this for all four candles, and then disappeared. Nodding and taking a lookover of things one more time, he took off his glove and set them on the desk which was always in his study, not the one he'd moved in there not two hours ago. It was then that he heard a knock on the door, quiet but firm and solid at the same time.

"Coming!" he shouted from the study as he straightened his shirt, dusted off his pants and walked over to the door, opening it.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm afraid. Between this and my How to Tick Off Fullmetal, you guys send me so many reviews, I get like...10 emails a night! I usually am lucky to get 1! Hahaha, anyways, that's not what scares me. What scares me is how many of you threaten to kill me if I don't write more/).(\ Please don't kill me! Anyways, I'm coming up on my last pre-prepared (OO) section for this story, so you might have to wait a bit before I get more up. Please reserve death threats if you can help it!

* * *

Roy almost gasped when he opened the door and found Riza standing on his doorstep. The red dress she wore under a black jacket to prevent from the chilly spring evening air was gorgeous on her. Her hair was brushed to shine, and in the light coming from his living room, it looked like the golden strands of a goddess. She wore polished black heels and black stockings, which disappeared under her dress at the thighs. She didn't wear any makeup with the exception of a light gloss of red lipstick which crept across her delicate lips, and sparkled when she smiled in greeting of him. In her hand was a purse and something else, which he couldn't quite make out. He cleared his throat and smiled at her.

"Welcome, Riza. You look beautiful this evening. Please, come in," Roy said smoothly as he stepped back to let her in.

"Thank you Roy," she said, stepping in with Hayate prancing at her heels.

He smiled again, a small blush creeping across his face. He shut the door and walked behind her, taking her jacket from her and setting on the coatrack he never thought existed in his home, but had mysteriously appeared next to the door.

"If you'd like to take off your shoes, you may set them over there," he said, gesturing to a mat which held only a few pairs of shoes.

"Thank you, Roy. These are awfully annoying to wear all the time. I guess I just far too used to the uniform boots and running shoes," she laughed as she gracefully glided to the mat and set her shoes upon it.

Hayate, who was examining every corner of Roy's house he could get his nose into, then sneezed, barked and tackled Roy's leg in recognition of him. Roy laughed in a way that Riza had never heard from him before. It was not the normal arrogant laugh he would use at work, rather it was carefree, and actually... _happy._ The sound of the laugh made a blush bloom onto her face. She watched as her superior no, her _friend_, bent down to pet the pup.

"I love your dog, Riza," he said, standing up and looping an arm around her own.

"He's a handful, trust me," she said as he led her into the dining room.

Despite the only light in the room being four candles, the room was brightly illuminated. She smiled inwardly as she realized these flames must be the result of Roy's alchemy, since no ordinary four candles could light the room so that it was as if a light was on. Reaching the table, Roy removed his arm and pulled back the chair for her, gesturing it with a bow to her and a smile. She smiled in return and sat down, laying the purse in her lap. He then disappeared into a nearby room, which she supposed was the kitchen, and returned with two large plates, one balanced on each hand, one of which he set in front of Riza, and the other he set across the small table in front of his own chair. He then disappeared again and came back with a bottle of wine, soy sauce, and a small plate. She laughed as he set down the bottle of wine and soy, kneeling before the pup, which sat anxiously under the middle of the table.

"You even thought of Hayate," she playfully accused.

"Well of course. I figured he might be hungry, and it's not fair for him to watch us eat and not get a scrap. He's allowed to eat all of these things, yes?" he asked holding it above the nose of the begging pup.

"Yes, there is nothing on that plate that he cannot have," she said. She noticed that the book she had lent him was sitting next to his plate.

He nodded and teased the puppy for a moment, who whined and begged until yipping with joy as the plate was set in front of him. Roy then smiled and pet the feasting pup once on the head before standing and taking the wine bottle in hand and walking to Riza's side.

"You don't mind a drink, do you?" he asked holding up the bottle.

"No, not at all," she said, holding up her glass

He smiled again and popped open the bottle, pouring some into her glass then walking over to her own, and pouring for himself. He then sat down and smiled to her.

"Okay then, let's eat, shall we?"

She nodded and cut a small piece of the steak, delicately putting it into her mouth. It was delicious. The mix of flavors was splendid and subtle, so as not to overpower the flavor of the meat. Clearing her mouth she beamed at him, intrigued.

"Roy, this is delicious! What's your secret?"

He laughed and smiled, holding his fork to the ceiling as if the secret to his cooking would fall from the roof.

"I just sauteed it in mushrooms in lemon juice. Then I added a tiny bit of orange juice," he said pinching the forefinger and thumb of his free hand together to indicate the amount. "Fresh from an orange, not the stuff from the store, on top after it was done cooking and then let it sit for about two minutes."

"Well, it's great! I had no idea you were such a chef Roy," she said gleefully.

"Thank you. I took a few classes when I was in high school, and I like to experiment now and then," he admitted.

"They certainly payed off," she said, putting another piece of meat into her mouth.

He smiled brighter, another blush making its way across his cheeks. Riza was _here_, in his house, enjoying a meal he made. For a moment, he felt like an embarrassed schoolboy who was on his first date with the prettiest girl in school.

For the while, the two ate in silence, Riza reveling in the surprisingly delectable taste, and Roy surprised it actually tasted like food. Hayate, who had finished minutes after the plate was set in front of him was licking the plate clean of any smell or other hint that food had been on that plate. The silence was awkward for Roy; it allowed his mind to wander to Riza, and the fact that he really did like her, and he would even go so far as to say that he loved her. But he couldn't say that, not to her. They were coworkers for crying out loud. But still, there was always that possibility that she might love him back, wasn't there? _Don't be silly,_ he told himself. _She'd probably go for someone with a better job. Someone who has less of a chance getting shot by some random guy who hates the military._ So he decided to bring up the book. He cleared his throat and picked up the book, thumbing through the pages he had read so far.

"Um...Riza, about this book," he stammered. Just looking at it sent chills racing up his spine.

"Oh yes. About that. You can have that copy," she said pulling the same book from her lap. It must've been what Roy couldn't see in the light when she stood on his porch. "I was looking through my library this afternoon before I came here and discovered that I had an extra copy."

"Thank you. Now, well, do you know who the author of this book is? I've looked all over the book for it and can't seem to find the name."

"No one really knows who wrote the book. The manuscript was found in the safe of a burnt building during the Ishbal rebellion. There was no one to claim the work or say who lived in the house, but the contents of it were captivating, and the party who found it pushed to get it published."

"I see. During Ishbal. Huh," he puzzled over it for a moment as more icy-legged spiders scurried up his spine. "Any idea when it was written?"

"When I looked at the report involving the find of the novel, it said that it was dated to a few years before Ishbal."

"But... it's so similar to Ishbal..to..." he broke off, a guilty look in his eyes.

"Yes, so maybe the author was able to predict the events of Ishbal. As I'm sure you're aware, there were many rebellions and conflicts leading up to the war," she said with a searching look in her eyes. What was he hiding?

"Perhaps..." he spoke quietly, almost reluctantly, as though he was afraid of revealing something.

"Something wrong?"

"No... please excuse me," he stood and walked out of the room, fists clenched tight, bearing white knuckles.

She stood and followed him, concerned, and found him sitting on the small couch of his living room, head in his hands, trembling. She sat next to him, placing a quiet hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Roy?" she asked quietly.

"The book. It's just like... it's what I did in Ishbal," he said, he voice barely above a whisper.

"What? What do you mean? I don't understand"

"During Ishbal, there were these doctors. They treated anyone who was wounded, rebel or military. The Iron Blood Alchemist, a Lieutenant Colonel at the time, ordered me to carry out their execution. Riza, they were no older than I was. They died holding a picture of their daughter. That automail girl Fullmetal is friends with; I killed her parents that day."

She remained silent. She had heard rumors around the office that during the Ishbal rebellion, Roy had killed two people he shouldn't have. So this was what those rumors meant. And it was the parents of the Elrics' friend. To her, it seemed like everyone was tied together by the strings of fate.

"After I killed them, I... I don't know," his voice was turbulent with emotion, shaking as though electrical pulses coursed through his body. "I felt such hatred for myself. They were innocent! They were just preventing people from dying, just helping people! And I killed them. I...I wanted to die. So I took out my gun and held it, just under my chin. But Marcoh, he stopped me. He told me he was leaving, and taking all his research about the incomplete Philosopher's Stones with him. This way, we couldn't enhance our alchemy by them anymore. He hoped it would prevent more innocent deaths. But it didn't the whole city was decimated nonetheless... There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wonder if I should have pulled that trigger, or if I would have, if Marcoh hadn't stepped in. Honestly, I still have that gun. It hasn't been removed from its holster since that day."

She gently took one hand from his face and caressed it, whispering, crooning nothing in particular in his ear as she lay her head on his shoulder. She knew that as regulation and in the event that alchemy was useless, a pistol must always be carried by the officer. According to regulations, you were given one gun at the admission to the military, and you were responsible for it as long as you served. The only way to exchange the gun was if it were broken beyond repair, or extremely outdated. She realized that he must carry that gun every day at work, thinking about it, ready to draw it on himself, just in case he was hit with another wave of overwhelming sorrow.

"It's ok Roy," she said after a few minutes. "I know it hurts. But you kept it inside for so long. I'm glad that you're admitting this to me."

"No, this is... I feel so stupid. I ruined our dinner."

"Not at all. I'm glad you came out and told me about this. It must be a heavy burden to carry. But now, you don't have to carry it on your own. I'll help you now."

He looked at the wall, small tears trickling down his cheeks. He nodded, and gave a bit of a smile.

"It's... I feel like an idiot. It's.. this has been eating away at me for years. I... I never knew who I could tell, who could help me. I was so afraid that telling someone would crush that person under my weight, or that they wouldn't help me at all. There was no one there I could trust, Riza. But...but now, I have you. You sit here and listen to me, and offer to help me carry all this. I'm so grateful. Thank you, Riza."

"You're welcome, Roy. You know, I'd do anything for you. _Anything._ And...Roy Mustang, in all the years I've worked with you, I've been afraid to admit it, but I...I..."

Puzzled, he turned to look at her.

"You what, Riza?" he asked.

Instead of an answer, Roy received a kiss, as Riza leaned over and pressed her lips to his own. He was rather surprised but but didn't object, and he put his arms around her in a gentle embrace as he returned the kiss, closing his eyes. He could feel the last of his tears melt away.

Within a minute, she pulled away from him, embarrassed, and a bright shade of scarlet invading her face.

"I'm so sorry Roy. I don't know what came over me and I--" the words poured out her mouth in a jumbled waterfall.

He put a finger to her lips to stop her, and when she did and gasped, looking into those obsidian eyes of his, she noticed something she had never seen before. He was smiling, not smirking, not sarcastically grinning, but smiling warmly.

"Shhhh," he told her. "I understand. I love you too, Riza."

She smiled and threw her arms around him, tears coming from her eyes. She couldn't understand why, they just were. But she didn't care. She was here with Roy, and that's all that mattered.


	8. Chapter 8

This is a short section, but I really like it. I had to give the Fuhrer a bit of a twist and make me dislike him a little more, so I made him somewhat a perv! Ahahaha...ok. Anyways, I decided that I dislike him less after seeing episode 22 (was it?) with him in those light blue pj's. that's awesome. And hughes' pink pj's. Oh the comedic relief! Anyways, here my mini section...enjoy!

* * *

By the time Roy walked into work the next morning, his mood was soaring. Riza had left late that night, after they spent hours just sitting on the couch, enjoying one another's company. Nothing had really happened between them, they just sat and talked and cuddled, laughing at the funny little stories of how Roy tried to learn alchemy or Riza firing her first gun. After a while, Hayate had gotten exhausted and jumped up onto the bed, making himself rather comfortable between the two and falling asleep. At somewhere near ten that night, Riza had decided she had best be getting home and getting some rest. _Something tells me,_ she had said, _it's going to be a long day tomorrow._

And she was right. Walking through the Eastern Headquarters building on his way to his office, he was stalked by the whispers of curious subordinates. Hughes had apparently dug up the phone number of everyone in the building and called to let them know of the activities of the Colonel and his First Lieutenant. Damn him. They didn't make him Chief of Investigations for nothing, did they? And so, he was on his way to the office, getting rather annoyed with the whispering, about to spin around and tell everyone where they can shove it when he noticed the Fuhrer standing in front of his office door. Roy stopped three feet from him and saluted.

"Good morning, Fuhrer Bradley Sir," he said, a bit concerned. Why was the Fuhrer here this early? "To what do I owe the early morning pleasure?"

"I recieved a call last night concerning you and Miss Hawkeye," the Fuhrer said with a wholehearted grin on his face.

Damn it! Hughes had even told the Fuhrer! What was wrong with that maniac? What did he want from him?

"Um, yes Sir, the Lieutenant and I enjoyed dinner together last night."

"I see. So tell me, how was she?" he asked eagerly.

"Pardon, Sir?"

"I mean, you took to bed didn't you?"

Forgetting that Bradley was his superior, he conked him one on the head, his face heating up on par with his anger.

"Fuhrer Sir! I did nothing of the sort! How can you think I'd do that! She's my subordinate, we were having dinner and discussing a book!"

Rather depressed, as though hoping for some rather interesting details, the Fuhrer walked away, his head hung rather low.

Annoyed, Roy walked into his office and slammed the door shut. He sat at his desk, glaring at the door. _I'll get you one day Hughes. Mark my words, _he vowed to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

Ok, this section is rather short, but I'm afraid that if I don't update soon, I'm gonna end up with some death threats, so I'll add this section in ahead of schedule. I must admit that despite this being a week of vacation from school, I haven't had much time to write, but I thank you all for being so very patient. And I want to thank those who have been following my stories so loyally. I feel very loved! As for Envy, I'm gonna make him pay for killing Hughes. (Haven't seen that episode yet, but some readers have indirectly revealed it. points at readers EVIL!) How mean is that? Ok, well I just wanted to say that I'm thankful to not have received death threats yet! So, enjoy!

* * *

Other than the whispers tumbling throughout the office, the workday went as it normally did for Roy and Riza. Well, almost normal. It was actually quite awkward between the coworkers. After all, the night before, they had practically poured out their souls to each other. Naturally that would create a rather noticeable uneasiness, or even a mild tension between the two. Roy personally hoped that things wouldn't be all too different between them. He wanted them to still be friendly with each other, and rather cold or arrogant to other coworkers. He still wanted to see that glacier-melting smile in the morning when she greeted him, except a blush and a weak, silly grin. He wanted to hear that passionate, calm voice that she wouldn't speak to anyone else in the office with.

But he also wanted them to see each other, _really_ see each other. Go out to fancy restaurants and out to the park. He wanted her to keep coming to his house for dinner, so he clumsily fumble through his refrigerator, wondering what to make for such a beautiful woman. He longed for them to sit on the couch again, cuddling and talking, getting to know each other. Sitting at his desk, while he plotted his revenge against Maes Hughes for all the people he had alerted about their dinner the night before, he also devised a way to get Riza to spend time with him after work that day. The weather would be good today, he knew it. So he wanted to take Riza to the park, or on a walk through the countryside.

He was clumsily putting these ideas in order when Riza walked into work that morning, saluting as usual, greeting him.

"Good morning Sir," she said in that sweet voice she used only for him. She turned and shut the door and moved to her desk, with Hayate at her heels.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," Mustang said quietly.

He was pretending to look over a report Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc had given him when he arrived to work. The man with the everlasting cigarette had grinned at him as he handed his commanding officer the folder. Honestly, he couldn't make sense of a word on the page. His heart was a wild bird frantically trying to get out of his rib cage. When Riza spoke, it was like the bird became even more desperate, until it felt like his heart was going to rip itself from his chest and fly away.

He was very distracted, and the workday seemed to pass him by while he stood still. He didn't even notice when Riza stood and told it it was time for lunch break. She left when he didn't answer. After the break was finished, Edward came in for his daily ranting and raving, and sat on the couch with his brother, Alphonse, waiting for Roy. But Roy was far too preoccupied with whatever lay beyond the window. Peeking out from the couch, Edward could find nothing of personal interest or of seeming interest to someone like Roy Mustang, but the man continued to stare out of it.

"Damn it, Mustang, say something already! What's wrong with you, aren't you gonna yell at me? Someone attacked me and Al last night on the way home and I destroyed a building taking him out! Didn't you read the report? Aren't you going to comment on how destructive I am?" Ed demanded, standing from his seat.

"No, Ed. I didn't read the reports. I honestly have done nothing all morning except attempt to beat up the Fuhrer," Roy said, his voice distant.

Dumbfounded, Ed walked up to Roy's desk, putting his hands on it.

"Did... did you just call me by my name?" Ed asked as though he had been struck across the face.

"Yes Edward, I did," Roy replied as though it was not an issue.

"Who _are_ you? You never call me by my name, even _off_ duty."

"Maybe he's sick, brother. Delusional. Or maybe he had too much to drink last night," Al suggested.

"I don't think so," Ed said walking to Roy's chair and spinning it around so that Roy faced Alphonse. The Colonel didn't seem to notice he had changed focal points. "This is _not_ the look of a man suffering from a massive hangover."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. But then, what could be wrong with him?" Al asked.

"I dunno," Ed replied, his voice becoming a bit frantic. He began to shake Roy by the shoulders, trying to get his attention. "Come on, Roy. What's up?"

Edward did not receive a reply.

"Come on, Mustang. Say something. Yell at me for recklessly putting people in danger. Scold me about causing too much property damage. Tell me how despite all the searching Al and I have one, we've turned up nearly nothing on the Philosopher's Stone and you can't keep funding our escapades. Make fun of my height, dammit!"

Al knew it was serious right then. Ed would _never_ suggest that someone make fun of how short he was. So it was either serious, Ed was crazy, or mind-controlling aliens really existed.

"Brother, relax. I'm sure it's nothing serious," Al said as he coaxed his brother back to the couch. It was then that Riza returned from her checks on the other officers, which she always did after lunch.

"Oh, hello Edward and Alphonse," Riza said quietly as Hayate yipped and bounced about the room.

"What's wrong with the Colonel?" Ed asked. His voice actually held fear that the man was drugged or something.

"Nothing's wrong with him, Edward. No need to worry," Riza replied as she walked to Roy's desk. She leaned close to him, so that her lips brushed against his ear and she whispered to him in a soft, crooning voice. "Sir, I know you're having fun daydreaming, but the Elrics are hear and you have work to do."

As though someone had whipped him, Roy nearly jumped and then looked at Riza, giving her a smile and turned to the boys, clearing his throat.

"Ah yes, well. I'm terribly sorry about that boys, I didn't sleep very well last night. So, what can I help you with E-Fullmetal?"

"Yeah. You can start acting normal, for one," Ed said, glaring at him.

"Yes well, as I told you already, I'm very sleepy, so my reaction time is horrible. I apologize. I suppose you're hear to file a report about last night's incident, yes?" Roy said casually.

"Then you know what happened?" Alphonse asked meekly.

"Yes, of course I do. Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc assisted in controlling and cleanup of the incident, I presume?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Ed scoffed.

"He gave me _his_ report this morning upon my arrival," Roy said with a smirk, holding up the folder Jean had presented to him. "And now, you may give me your perspective, Fullmetal."

"Right," Ed said. His voice showed a bit of nervousness, as though he were admitting to stealing or beating up some random guy.

When Edward didn't begin giving his report a few minutes later, Roy became annoyed. He had figured out the perfect way to get Riza out with him tonight, and these boys, mostly Fullmetal, only prolonged the delay. Not only that, but he became increasingly nervous as the seconds ticked by on the wall clock on his left. His foot tapped impatiently and a scowl grew on his face.

"Out with it, Fullmetal!" Roy nearly bellowed when the wait became too long. Hayate yelped in return as though he were being scolded, and everyone else stiffened.

"Alright alright, geez. Al and I were on our way back to our hotel room after being in the library for hours when this guy came up, screaming about how State Alchemists ruin the lives of the common man..."


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, I know this is gonna sound really stupid, but there's this...constant arguement between my older self, and the self of me when I was like...6. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'm psychotic and need help, but I'm too lazy to get it. So anyways, we fight a lot. Observe:

Younger: Let's go play outside!  
Older: Dammit! Is that all you think about?  
Y: No. I think about dogs and foxes too...outside.  
O: Idiot -.-'  
Y: No! You're the idiot! You're no fun at all! We never go play outside. looks at writing You spelt that wrong  
O: Did not  
Y: Did too  
O: Dammit, did not. What would you know anyways, you're 6. Stupid.  
Y: sniff sniff WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! The older me's such a meanie! cries  
O: Screw this. Listens to music to drown out crying

Yes, I'm crazy, ok?

* * *

Flashback

"_So, we came up with nothing useful, again," Ed said to his brother and sighed. They were walking back to the hotel room a few blocks away from the library, Ed with his hands behind his head, Al carrying a few books with papers sticking out from the pages._

"_Not entirely, I think. We found some things that might be useful. And besides, we still have these books to look through, so you never know," Al said, holding up the books in indication. _

_The library closed at seven o'clock, but Ed had insisted that it stayed open long enough for the boys to finish reading through the books they had eagerly ripped from the shelves. Three hours later, at ten, the librarian said that enough was enough and if they hadn't finished reading yet, they could take th remainder of the books home with them and bring them back within the next few days. Needless to say, Ed was rather ticked off by this, but with Al's quiet persuasion, agreed to leave. Now they had a pile of at least seven books to look through._

"_Yeah, I suppose you're right. We should hurry back to the hotel, though. I'm getting really really hungry," Ed complained._

"_Brother, you are _always_ hungry," Alphonse sighed._

"_Yeah well, I'm a growing boy, no matter what that bastard Mustang says, and I need to eat."_

_Then they were silent for a few minutes, as they continued to walk down the road. Ed was reflecting on the words that were on the pages of the books, and all the notes he had taken on them. To him, taking notes was extremely important, partly due to the fact that he couldn't remember absolutely everything that he read, but also because it was much more reliable to work from hard evidence rather than memory. Sometimes when he couldn't sleep at night, haunted by malicious and vengeful memories of his past, he would turn on a desk lamp and read over his notes, making notes about his notes, trying to find which statements were consistent with which authors._

_Not five minutes later, a man with a gun and a transmutation circle tattooed on his neck and wrists ran from the alley, holding a gun in the boys' direction. Personally, Ed thought it was stupid for an alchemist like him to carry a gun to attack another alchemist. Why use a gun? Alchemy was a hell of a lot more effective._

"_You're a State Alchemist, aren't you?" the man hissed at Al, pointing the gun at him._

"_Um, nope. My brother is though. He's the Fullmetal Alchemist," Al said as though he was proud that his brother's being a State Alchemist would get him shot._

"_Dammit, Al! Don't tell him that! He's gonna do something stupid now!" Ed screamed._

"_But he asked," Al said innocently. Either he didn't notice the gun, he was too naive to realize the man meant business, or he suddenly wanted his brother to get attacked._

"_So, you're the Fullmetal Alchemist. I thought you'd be taller, but what the hell. A State dog is a dog no matter what he looks like. And all those who serve in the military make peoples' lives worse. You all deserve to die!" the man screamed as he fired a warning shot just passed Edward's face._

"_What do you mean taller! Do I look short to you!" Ed bellowed as he raced towards the man. He clapped his hands and transmuted the top plate of his automail arm into a blade. When he reached the man, he knocked away the rifle. "Now, I don't really know what's happened to you, but I'm like the other State Alchemists, ok?"_

"_Corruption is in your future little one," the man said with a hiss._

"_I'm not little dammit!" Ed bellowed as he delivered a left to the man's jaw, sending him flying into a building._

_And so Edward chased him into that building, and the blonde and the man played a game of cat and mouse, each time Ed got close enough, he would pound the guy more, until the building, which was inconveniently old and falling apart already, toppled on top of them._

"_Brother!" Al screamed, dropping the books and notes on the sidewalk. He ran to the pile of rubble and began removing debris, desperately screaming for his brother._

_But Ed was nowhere to be found. Al searched and searched for ten minutes, and when Jean Havoc arrived with a cleanup crew, he still did not cease. The lieutenant tried to calm down the boy, placing a hand on his cold metal shoulder, telling him it would be ok, but Al ignored him._

"_What if he's hurt!" Al screamed frantically, more to himself than to Jean._

"_I'm sure he's fine," Havoc said gently. "Think about it; Ed's a smart boy, I'm sure he had figured out a way to squeeze himself into a little alcove or something."_

"_Besides," Havoc continued, speaking loud enough so that if Ed was ok, he'd hear. "He's small enough to fit in tiny spaces unscathed."_

_For a while, it was a quiet except for the crew removing rubble and Alphonse desperately digging through it. But Al ceased from hollering his brother's name, just in case Ed decided to react to Jean's comment. But it was quiet, and there was no screaming about how Ed was not short, despite what everyone said. Al searched faster._

"_Oh no! He's hurt I just know it! What if he's dead? It's all my fault! I didn't stop him when I had the chance! Oh brother, please be ok!"_

_After another ten minutes of searching, Alphonse finally found his brother. The blonde boy was dirty, his golden hair was almost a mustard color from all the dirt. There were scratches all over him, and a small arrow of debris was protruding from his left arm, causing a little pool of blood to gather around the wound. Al took the debris from his brother's flesh as carefully as he could, and when Ed didn't wince, he panicked. Jean walked over and found a pulse on the boy, announcing to the paranoid child that he was merely unconscious. Al was relieved, but still worried, as the wound would not stop bleeding even when he put the pressure of his unfeeling metal hand on it. It was times like these when he was ironically glad to have a hand that couldn't feel, because if he could feel his brother's blood seeping through his fingers, he'd faint._

_Jean called over a medic from the cleanup team, which still hadn't found the attacker, and the man cleaned and bandaged the wound the best he could. Al then picked his brother up and held him as a groom would his new bride, and walked over to the sidewalk, where the books lay. And there in lied the problem; how would he carry the books and Ed? The answer came in the form of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, who offered to carry the books and to have Ed cleaned up at his house._

"_Wow, thank you Lieutenant Colonel," Al said gratefully. If only he could give the man a smile that showed just how grateful he was._

"_No problem! And besides, you haven't seen Alicia since she was born! She's four years old now and you have just got to see her!" Hughes said as he picked up the books._

"_Um, alright," Al said nervously. Hughes never changed, did he?_

_As they walked to Maes' house, Al explained everything that happened. Hughes nodded._

"_You're lucky I was out. Honestly, I was on my way to Roy's. He and Riza are having dinner tonight and I wanted to make fun of them. But that's ok, I'll just do it at work tomorrow. I have to stop by there anyways. But don't worry about Edward. I'm sure he'll be fine."_

End Flashback

* * *

Anyways, this was kinda a weird section for me. Putting everything into a 'larger ranged perspective' is something I only started working on a few months ago. I usually do a single person perspective thing, but I love to experiment too. I've already written the next section in its entirity, but I'm not gonna post it yet! SO THERE! So attack me with sporks if you must! Always remember kids, there are 746 ways to kill your enemy with a spork. Ja ne! 


	11. Chapter 11

sigh I beg the forgiveness of you all, but the section after this on is gonna take some time. I haven't had as much time to write as I'd like to, but I'm trying, so depending on how much I want to say in the next part, it could take a while.

On another note, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed writing this chapter. To give Roy that quality that you always sort of suspect he's hiding is a lot of fun, and I like it that he gives Ed a bit of his mind! FEEL THE POWER, FOOL! I also like Riza's reaction to Ed and Al being told of the night before. When my friend read it, and I told my other friends about that part, they all had the same suspicions I did about writing it. I'm sorry if it doesn't turn out as expected, but a good twist now and then is good, ne?  
Also, I'd like to say thatI know I've strayed from the Book playing a part in Roy's...life shall we say? and given it the backseat so to speak, but I wanted to focus a lot on Roy's feelings. So maybe one day I'll get back to the book and it'll scar him for life even more. Who knows? Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

"I woke up at one, about two and a half hours after arriving at Maes' house. Then Al told me what happened, and," Ed looked to the side, blushing at the very mention of it. "You and Riza." 

"Maes told _you?_" Riza demanded, standing from her desk.

Ed jumped, afraid that she would shoot him for knowing. Slowly, he nodded.

She cleared her throat, with a small blush on her face and started towards the door.

"Where are you going Lieutenant?" Roy asked.

"Target practice," Riza replied with a deadly tone in her voice.

Roy sighed, but smiled.

"I sure hope Maes can run fast," he said with a chuckle.

"Will Miss Hawkeye really shoot him?" Al asked fearfully.

"Probably not. She'll shoot _at_ him, but more than likely she won't try to hit him," Roy said. "Even if she does hit his foot or something, the man deserves it. Telling everyone in the whole damn office about my and Riza's dinner last night. Well, it's better if she gets revenge now. I'll get mine later."

"'More than likely she won't _try_'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ed asked.

"It means that if she's angry enough, she'll probably try to actually shoot him," the Colonel replied casually.

"You're right then," Al said thoughtfully. "I sure hope Mr. Hughes can run really fast."

"Anyways Fullmetal," Roy said, clearing his throat. "About your report. You are a complete hothead. You should not have thrown the man into the building and continued to destroy it with your barrage of attacks against him."

"He was trying to kill me! And besides, that was an old crusty building anyways."

"Which was going to be fixed and house homeless families," Roy stated coldly. "Now they'll have to remove all the debris, take down anything that's left to make sure it won't fall, and rebuild the entire thing. It could take months! And in that time, how many people do you suppose will die because of the cold or hunger?"

"Um, well, I," Ed stammered. Since when was the Colonel so sentimental about people?

"Hundreds of thousands die every year because they cannot afford a home or food. That building was going to offer them a place to stay and eat until they could get a good job and get out into the world. And you ruined it, Fullmetal!" Roy spat, standing up from his chair. There was an acidic tone in his voice.

"Geez Roy, you really are pissed about this, aren't you?" Ed asked nervously.

"Yes Fullmetal. I'm very very pissed off at you. Your actions could have caused the deaths of at least one hundred homeless hungry people, more than half of which are children!"

Ed yelped and backed away as the man's voice grew louder and louder with hatred and condemnation.

"I'm so disgusted in you, Fullmetal. Get out of my office. Take your brother and leave. I will have a mission for you next week."

Before Ed could protest, Roy stuck up a gloved hand, ready to snap.

"Now, before I turn you into charcoal."

And with that, Ed and Al oozed carefully out the door, shutting it behind them and running down the hallway, fearing for their very lives.

Several minutes later, Roy stood up and walked down the hallway, to a room specifically reserved for target practicing. He walked in, grabbed a pistol, and began shooting at the silhouette of a full grown man hung on the opposite end. He took a look at a nearby target to find only one hole in it; right where the heart would be. Shots rung throughout the room, but they were not his. He stepped out of his booth a little to find Riza Hawkeye shooting at that one perfect hole, over and over and over again. He was surprised that she was not chasing down Hughes with her pistol, or that she hadn't already chased him down and put him in place of the silhouette paper.

"They're not kidding when they say you're one hell of a marksman," Roy said with a chuckle.

"You think so?" Riza said, putting down her gun for a moment.

Roy nodded and smiled. Riza smiled back, and Roy couldn't help but thinking how beautiful she looked with that smile on her face.

"This is really calming for me. Whenever I get angry, I'll come here, even if it's in the middle of the night, and I'll come here and shoot for hours. I don't really know why," Riza admitted with a shy smile.

"Well, you fired your first gun at eight, didn't you?" Roy asked, recalling their conversation from the night before.

"...Yes," she said, eyes suddenly downcast.

"Uh, well anyways, you're really good, all those years of practice definitely paid off! I could never hit that spot, let alone hit time after time," Roy said nervously. He got the feeling that Riza's suddenly cloudy mood was due to something that happened when she fired her first bullet.

She laughed and put down her gun and walked into his booth, taking hold of his hand.

"Here, let me show you how," she said, moving behind him, grasping both of his hands in her own. Roy blushed furiously as he felt her chest press against his back.

"Now, straighten your arms so that they are perfectly parallel with the ground," Riza said, gently tugging at his hands.

Roy obeyed, but was nervous. He couldn't see how a shot fired like this would hit a man's heart. From his judgement, he seemed to be at least six inches off target. Riza was silent for a moment, placing her head on his shoulder to calculate the angle of the gun. Slowly, she moved his hands to the left about three inches, and then held it firm.

"Without changing the position of your hands, fire three shots," she instructed.

_BANG BANG BANG!_ The first bullet tore clean through the silhouette's heart, and the other two disappeared through that hole. Roy smiled, and tried to put his gun down, but Hawkeye stiffened her grip on him, preventing him from doing so.

"Look carefully at your position. Look at everything you can see in your field of vision in this position. Observe and memorize. If you can remember what everything looks like when you fire at this angle, you can bring yourself to continue to shoot in that same position in a moment's instance."

Roy gave a small nod and tried to memorize everything he saw, everything he felt when he held the gun. Within minutes, Riza let go of him and stood beside him, moving his hands down.

"Now," she said with a serious look on her face. "Shoot the heart again."

"You want me to– you think I've memorized it already?" Roy asked in disbelief.

"Since it is a short time after you got the feeling for it, your body should still know. But if you really want to be able to hit that spot time after time. You'll have to practice, leaving a few days in between each practice. Now shoot."

Roy nodded and aimed...adjusted, aimed again and _BANG!_ Right through the little hole in the heart. He put down his gun and smiled.

"Not bad Roy, not bad at all," Hawkeye said, patting him on the shoulder.

_This is my chance. Work's almost out,_ Roy thought.

"Um Riza... do you have anything planned for today?" Roy asked, focusing his attention to the pistol in his hand.

"Well no, Sir," she replied curiously. "Why?"

"Well... I was just wondering... maybe you'd like to go to the park with me, and then get some ice cream or something," Roy said, fumbling with his words.

"Sure. But oh!" Riza said placing a hand to her mouth in remembrance. "Today I have to go to the market and get some groceries, so could we go after that?"

"Yeah, that's no big deal," Roy said, turning to smile at her.

"Alright then. And after the walk and ice cream, you can have dinner at my place this time," Riza stated.

"Uh sure. Ok."

"Great then. It's a plan," she said, placing her hands on her hips with a warm smile.

"Awww! How cute is that! They're making more plans!" said Hughes' voice from behind them.

Roy spun around and Riza poked her head out behind the Colonel. Roy took a step to Maes, swiftly placing a glove on his right hand, readying to snap his fingers and turn his friend into charcoal.

"What do you want, Maes?" Roy asked, extremely peeved. Riza could almost see veins popping out all over his head.

"Well, originally I wanted to show you these lovely pictures of my daughter Alicia, but now since I saw you and Riza and heard you making all these plans, I just want to make fun of you and tell everyone in the office!" Maes declared, a silly grin on his face.

"Damn it, Maes. You always seem to walk into peoples', mostly my, conversations at the wrong time. Do you have a mechanism in you that says if you go see Roy right now, you'll embarrass the hell out of him?"

"No, but if you want me to get one I--"

"I was being sarcastic, Hughes. Now listen. If you tell a single soul that Riza and I have plans for tonight, you'll be going home as charcoal, and will never be able to hold a camera and take pictures of your daughter again."

"You are just no fun," Hughes whined. "Fine, I won't tell anyone, but I'm afraid I have bad news."

"And what's that?" Roy asked, putting his hand down ever so slightly.

"He followed me," Maes stated as he scooted over to allow Jean Havoc to peek through.

"Yo," Havoc said, raising a hand. He then lowered it and took a puff on his cigarette. "So, a walk, ice cream and dinner huh? Looks like I win the bet after all."

"What bet?" Roy demanded agitated, raising his gloved hand once more.

"Well, Breda, Falman, Feury and myself all made a bet on whether you two would get together. Feury and I said yes, Breda and Falman; no. We all put in a significant amount of our salaries for this. So let's see... if Feury and I spilt the pot 50/50, then I should be making about eight thousand. Nice."

"Eight thousand! Just how much did you people bet?" Riza asked.

"I dunno. But I think over the months, it's piled up to near sixteen thousand, give or take a hundred or so."

"That's it, you're charcoal," Roy said, beginning to snap his fingers. He was stopped by Riza, who took control of his arm with one hand and tore his finger apart from each other with the other.

"No! If you snap in here, the ammunition in here could react. Besides, they keep gunpowder in that locker over there!" she said, motioning to an old locker. "It's sensitive enough to go off with the right amount of heat. Why else do you think this room's always chilly?"

Roy blinked and but down his hand. Wow, he didn't know that. And he was the Colonel, he committed himself to know everything about his coworkers and his building of operations. Boy, he felt pretty stupid now.

Then, the bell sounded and the work day was over. Hughes and Havoc stretched as if the day had been far too long and waved, walking off in the same direction, talking about some bar nearby and the fight that Jean had seen in it. Roy took off his glove and looked at Riza.

"Well, I'll see you later then. Oh right, about what time will you be home from shopping?"

"I should be back by four fifteen I think," Riza said, calculating the time in her head.

"Right then. Meet me in the park on the east side of town by four forty-five if you can make it there by then," Roy said.

Riza nodded and Roy walked out and into his office, cleaning up his desk, putting the papers he would have to review tonight in a pile. He also put files he would have to read in the morning in the middle of his desk. He walked to the window and closed the curtains, bluffing the shadows to creep up behind him. He turned and looked things over. Everything seemed to be where it needed to be. He sighed and picked up his pile and walked out the door to his office. He didn't lock it; he knew Hawkeye still had to get her things. As he passed the target practice room, he saw Riza still there, shooting. He smiled and walked out the building, into the afternoon sun.


	12. Chapter 12

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT FAIR NOT FAIR! cries hysterically WHY HUGHES! WHY! ok, I finally got to see episode 25, as you can probably guess. I was so very very sad. and Alicia and Gracia and Armstrong...y'know what! No one helped. they were all sad and stuff, and I cried. I seriously cried. and then I couldn't go to sleep at 2:00 am this morning so at 2:30 I turned on the TV and watched the episode again and cried more. Why Hughes! DAMMIT ENVY, YOU'RE GONNA PAY! takes out waffle iron PREPARE TO BE WAFFLFIED! It's not fair!  
As a sidenote, I want to say that this chapter doesn't exactly end where it should. In my file over here, this chapter is typed out farther by at least another page and a half, but I wanted to leave you all in suspense. For those of you who pay attention, let's see if you can see the connections I made! I read this section to my brother and he did NOT see any connections. How silly is that?  
One more thing; Sorry I haven't written for How to Tick Off Fullmetal in a while. I have no ideas for it right now whatsoever. Ideas would be appreciated and noted in publishing.  
Maes Hughes, we all love you! LIVE ON! TT

* * *

It was a pleasant day outside when Roy Mustang stepped out of the military building to start home. The clouds from the morning before had all disappeared, leaving only the blue sky to hover over the earth with a certain pride. The sun was bright, casting playful shadows over the pavement and grass, causing the buildings to seem stretched across the city.

On his way home, he spotted an open air market and gazed about the stands with an unusual smile upon his face. Those in the market, seeing his military uniform, stopped what they were doing to eye him wearily, ready to dart in any which way should he make a move to seize one of them. Instead, the State Alchemist merely walked to a fruit stand where he examined the produce, purchased an apple, shined it on his military jacket and went along his merry way biting gleefully into the fruit.

When he had finished the fruit he found himself in a small park, which was a few miles from his home. He noticed as children played with each other, laughing and running. He smiled again and threw the apple core into a nearby wastebin, taking off his jacket to reveal his white button up shirt. A ball rolled to his foot and bounced lightly off of it, and he picked it up just as a young boy with messy brown hair came to get it. Roy smiled at him and handed him the ball, but a woman, most likely the child's mother, pulled him away, glaring at Roy. He sighed and continued his walk.

When he got home, he threw his jacket onto the living room sofa, stretching and yawning. What a tiring day. He didn't realize how much yelling at Edward took out of him.

He walked into his bedroom and slid off his boots, putting them next to the closet door and looked around. On the wall across from the bed was a small worktable. He smiled again as he began to unbutton his military pants. That table was the one that sat in his room when he was a kid. The one where he and Hughes had read about alchemy, studying quietly. Neither of their parents had wanted the boys to learn the science, but at the very young age of four years old, they were first introduced to it by a man traveling through the countryside village the two grew up in. They had watched in awe as the man fixed broken tools and other household products for the people of the village, and got their impression that alchemy was used for helping people. So as they grew up, they walked to the library a few miles away and ravaged the books on alchemy, learning what every word meant. By the age of seven, they could perform simple transmutations. When their parents found out, the boys had been punished, but even so, practiced the art day after day.

Shaking off his pants and carelessly discarding them on the floor, Roy then unbuttoned his shirt, throwing that aside as well. He walked to his dresser, wearing only dark green boxers and socks, searching through the drawers with something more comfortable. This came in the form of a pair of shorts and a green t-shirt. He slipped them on and then remembered the book. Come to think of it, he hadn't picked it up since last night, before Riza came over. He was in a good mood, so he decided that maybe he should see what else was in those pages. He went into his study, where he left the book, picked it up and walked through the back door, into his backyard. It was relatively small, but it had the tree with the swing, a table, a lawn chair, and a place for his garden. Admittedly, he liked gardening, and when he grew flowers, he often left them anonymously for Riza upon her desk. He would also cultivate some vegetables, which he used in his cooking. With a calm disposition, he reclined on the lawn chair, which folded to a near laying position and opened the book:

_It was so quiet. He awoke in the comforts of a bed, looking up at a young man._

"_Who are you?" he whispered cautiously. "Where am I?"_

"_Sir?" the young man asked. He looked so young, he could probably be fifteen or sixteen years old. Yet, this boy was holding a rifle in his hands, looking around cautiously, as though expecting something._

"_Where am I?" he whispered again._

"_You're in my house. I found you in the house a few doors down. Lucky I got you out in time. They burnt the place just minutes after. The military is everywhere, killing any civilian they see. They've gone mad. Say they're looking for one of their men, say we're hiding him."_

_It was then he realized it might be him they were looking for. Were all these people getting killed because he had gone missing? No! It couldn't be like that! He wouldn't allow it!_

"_Did they say who they were looking for?" he asked._

"_Yeah, a man they called Major Richard Madison," the boy said, glancing out the window._

_Richard Madison? That was his name. So they were looking for him. Not only that, but his going AWOL was getting innocent people killed. He stood and walked out of the building, stopping just out the door and tilted his head to the boy._

"_Thank you for caring for me during my time of unconsciousness. I owe you greatly. Tell me your name," the Major said in a kind yet commanding voice._

"_Morris," the boy replied. "Morris Nickels."_

"_Thank you, Morris. Stay safe."_

_And with that, he walked out the door. _

_Leaving the boy's house, the Major could see nothing but flames, and the air was putrid with blood and charred bodies. It was so strong that he was forced to run into an alley, as bile seeped into his throat. He stood there, doubled over for a few moments, and then wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. He then breathed deeply, trying not to retch again and walked to where he last recalled there being a tent for his unit. To his fortune, the tent was still there, and most of his unit was still camped under it. He walked to the folding desk where his commanding officer, Colonel Brad Gorna sat._

"_Major Madison, you're alive after all. Where have you been these past few days?" the Colonel questioned, folding his hands under his chin._

"_Sir," Richard said, saluting. "I was unconscious for a few days, and woke up not an hour ago. I am sorry for my absence. But now I am here, and you must stop the massacre of the innocent people."_

"_I am afraid I am not at liberty to do so," Gorna said, rising from his chair. He walked to the edge of the tent, looking out at the burnt and broken buildings._

"_What do you mean? You're going to continue to murder these people, civilian or not, despite the fact that you have found your missing officer?" The words came out in a jumble from his mouth, merged together in one disbelieving sentence._

"_Yes. Those are our orders. We are to annihilate the people of this city. Everyone is going to die." _

"_E-even the children?" Madison choked out._

_Colonel Brad Gorna just nodded. There was neither sadness nor guilt in his eyes, but a thirst for blood._

"_Y-you're mad," Richard said in a high whisper._

"_I am only carrying out orders," Gorna countered. "Now go to the barracks and rest. Your unit has a raid tomorrow and I want you prepared. You're the best soldier we've got on this side of the city, besides me of course. Do this, and there could be a major promotion for you."_

_Madison just stood there. A raid? That would mean killing more innocent people. He didn't know if he could take it. He might go insane if he took more innocent lives._

"_Go," the Colonel ordered harshly._

"_Sir!" Madison said, saluting. And he started on his way to the barracks, trying to remember why this war was started anyway..._


	13. Chapter 13

Well, honestly, since Saturday, I've seen some rather interesting anti-Envy pics. No offense to those of you who like Envy. I thought he/she/it (?) was pretty cool, til it went and killed Hughes, jerk. >.>  
Well, anyways, here's the next section! It was originally in the same chapter as the one before this (Chapter 12) but I wanted to leave you all in suspense. Mwuahahaha. And now you cannot frighten me with your death threats! I have a waffle iron! Feel my power. Yes, I am currently obsessed with waffle irons.  
Oh, the next section or two (haven't decided how to present it yet) is kinda mushy and stuff...so if you hate romance, you might wanna back away for a few chapters. OO

* * *

Roy Mustang struggled not to scream. Richard Madison. R M. Roy Mustang. R M. The same. Who was the author? Could he possibly have known about how many innocent people Roy had had to kill in order to fulfill his duty as a State Alchemist? And if so, why write this book? To get back at Roy, hoping someone would make the connection and blame Mustang for all the pain brought to the citizens of Ishbal. No, it couldn't be. It had to be a coincidence. It _was_ written before the Ishbal rebellion took place, after all. Riza said so herself. At least, that was her theory, wasn't it? They'd found the manuscript during a clean up of the destroyed city. So if it was written before Ishbal, there was no way it could be about Roy, right?

"It's so similar," Roy argued with his mind. "Just the names are different. But the same initials; Richard Madison in place of my name, and Brad Gorna in place of Basque Gran. Coincidence?"

Not only that, but the events were almost consistent to what had occurred during his stationing in Ishbal. There were minor discrepancies, such as passing out after killing the two innocents. Yes, it was true that after he had murdered them, Roy Mustang had stood there for quite some time, but he never lost consciousness because of the emotional stress. And he never met a man named Morris Nickels, or anyone with those initials. He did, however, meet with Colonel Basque Gran a few days after he had committed that sin and learned that they were going to basically annihilate the Ishbalans. Thankfully, they had not murdered all of them, Roy considered it such a waste of an entire race, but then again, it produced the man named Scar, who detested State Alchemists because of all the lives lost on the Ishbalan side, or for whatever other reason Scar had.

His thoughts were interrupted by the phone in his living room, which was loud enough in the relatively quiet afternoon to be heard outside. He sighed and rose from the chair, thankful to be taken from these thoughts of his and walked into the living room, setting the book on the couch as he did so. With slight apprehension, he picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" Roy asked the phone quietly.

"Hey Roy, it's me," Hughes said with a rather dark tone in his voice.

"Hey Maes. Is something wrong?" Roy asked, his voice becoming worried.

Silence followed. Roy could hear only sounds of pots and pans being moved in Hughes' kitchen and Alicia talking to her mother. Hughes, however was deadly silent.

"Out with it Maes. What is it?" Roy demanded.

"Do you have plans for tonight, Roy?" Hughes asked. Roy first thought that his tone was a joke, and any minute now, he would burst out laughing and invite him for dinner, or out to the bar.

"Yes, actually, I do. I'm going for a walk with Riza this afternoon and then I'm going to her house for dinner. I'm sorry Maes, I'll come over ano--"

"It's not about that," Hughes interrupted.

"Then what? Why do you sound so serious Maes? It's not about Riza, is it?" Roy demanded in a flood of words.

"No, Roy. It's not about Riza. She's fine; she just walked past our house not ten minutes ago. Gave Alicia a little bag of pastries. She has frosting all over her face."

"Maes, I know there's something seriously up you wanted to tell me. You just talked about your daughter in a non-obsessive voice. That's not right. Why aren't you obsessing!"

"The reason I wanted to know if you were busy tonight is because when I was looking through some records last night, I found out some very disturbing things. I want you to come with me to Lab 5 and help me test my theory."

"Can we do it tomorrow?"

"Well, I guess so. No one knows that I was looking at those files, at least not that I know of. There was no one else in the office when I was there. So it should be safe enough to go tomorrow."

"Alright then. And Maes, do me a favor, ok?"

"Anything, Roy."

"Stay home tonight and stay safe."

"Will do, you too Roy. This thing is pretty big."

"Big? Can you at least tell me what you're talking about?"

"Not here, not now. How late will you be out tonight?" Hughes asked cautiously.

"I'm not sure. But I can tell Riza I have to leave by ten. Is that good?"

"Sure. Meet me at the bar by ten thirty. And Roy, come armed, ok?"

"No problem. But you know I don't fire my gun Maes. I haven't fired it since Ishbal."

"Yea, I know. But you might need it."

"Right. Ok, I'll be there. Stay safe then, Maes."

"You too, Roy."

And with that, both men hung up at the same time, as if synchronized with one another. Well, they may as well have been, since they'd known each other for so long that they could practically tell what the other was thinking. But no matter how hard he tried, Roy Mustang could not figure out just what it was that Hughes had found out. But whatever it was, it was dangerous enough that his childhood friend told him to bring his pistol. And he never did that unless it was pretty damn serious. Hughes knew what feelings Roy had towards firearms, and how he felt about carrying one, so out of respect for Roy's uneasiness for them, Hughes never talked about Roy carrying a weapon. Dwelling on this, Roy became nervous.

* * *

Hughes fans, don't worry! I won't kill him off, I swear! I love that guy so much! It's just a little forebodingness and all. But HUGHES WILL NOT DIE! Anyways, more is written and soon to come to the masses! Ja ne! 


	14. Chapter 14

Hey there! A lot's been going on lately, and sadly, I haven't had much time to write. From last Sunday to today (a whole week) I have only written 7 more pages. that's really bad for me, cause I try to write a lot. But a lot's been on my mind and stealing my time. I've been reading this book called Tristram, written in the 1920's, and it's hard to understand, but really romantic. It's about this princess waiting for her lover to come back from the north, and unbeknownst to her, he's having an affair with this queen, which is married to his uncle. Sigh>  
Anyway, on to the rambling of this section. It took a ridiculously long time to write this section and the one that comes after it. I have to admit, I'm not too good at love scenes, but I wanted to experiment. Enough of that. Enjoy!

* * *

By the time four thirty-five rolled around, Roy was already at the park on the east side of town, sitting on a bench. Despite the beautiful day and his previously cheerful demeanor, he now scowled, trying to imagine what Hughes wanted to tell him. The thought was troubling him, especially since he hadn't used an obsessive tone of voice when talking about Alicia. So there Roy Mustang sat, wearing his green t-shirt and shorts, gloves on his hands, his face resting in them.

"What is it, Maes?" he asked the ground. "What is it you want to tell me so desperately?"

At four forty-five, right on the dot, Riza arrived, sans Hayate, wearing a light blue blouse and navy blue skirt. She wore low heels, which clicked quietly on the walkway with each step. Her hair was done, and there was a slight blush on her cheeks when she noticed how many people were there, but she swallowed her embarrassment and sat next to Roy, who seemed far to spaced out to have noticed her coming.

"How you been here long?" Riza asked, placing a graceful hand on his shoulder. She was slightly surprised to find it tense, the muscles flinching at her touch.

"No, I just got here," he replied distantly, not removing his gaze from the ground. To her, it seemed as though he were having a staring contest with it.

"Is something wrong, Roy?" she asked cautiously, trying not to make much of a scene. She hoped Roy wouldn't start screaming or burst out crying because of some event that happened between here and work.

He was silent, but nodded slowly, his obsidian eyes becoming even darker, if that was at all possible.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"I can't tell you here. It's to risky. I'll tell you when we get to your house."

"Alright."

Then he stood with a carefree smile on his face and reached a hand to her.

"Let's enjoy this day, alright?" he said as cheerfully as possible. Hearing the tone of his voice, Riza's heart sank a little. His tone, his smile, they were fake. Whatever it was that was bothering him was weighing on him heavily, and here he was, forcing himself to smile, not only so as not to draw attention from the other park patrons, but also so that Riza thought that he was really, happy, that everything was ok. She'd known him for quite a few years though, and she could tell when he was faking it, and right now, he was acting as though this day could be the very last that they spend together.

"Yes, let's enjoy ourselves," she said, taking his hand and standing.

Quietly they walked throughout the park, taking pathways through the woodsy area into large clearings. Then a sly smile came onto Roy's face and he led her along an unmarked path, which twisted and turned sharply throughout the trees. She kept looking down, making sure she would cut her leg on a thorn bush or stub her toes into a rock. Within five minutes or so, Roy stopped pulling her along by the hand and stood there. She stopped as well, stepping in line with him and looked at him. His eyes now were truly happy, and his eyes reflected water and sunlight. Curious, she looked at what Roy was looking at and nearly gasped at the sight before her.

They were in a large clearing, surrounded by trees, some of which were tulip trees and other trees which produced spring flowers. The grass was a vibrant ocean of green, with wild tulips, daffodils, and roses speckling the ocean like coral. In the far end across from them was a lake, the water shimmering from the sun reflecting brilliantly upon it, so that it looked like a mirror, or a portal to another world. In front of the lake were two large flat stones, a picnic table, and two lawn chairs. All around them, the air was filled with the pure scent of the scene around them, the sound of birds calling through the leaves, and the whisper of the breeze that flowed through the trees.

"Roy, this is...it's beautiful," Riza said. "It's breathtaking."

"Yes, it is. Maes and I lived in this area when we were children, and we used to come to the park every day, rain or shine. We would always wander the paths, and one day, we found the one that lead here. It was a day just like this. No one else had ever found it before, and we never told anyone about it. It was our little place. We brought the table and chairs here and would spend hours here, day after day, until it got too dark to see. We still come here, time to time."

"You and Maes have known each other for a very long time, isn't that right?"

"Yes, we met when we were children in a village just off this city. Our fathers worked together, so when they moved their business to this city, they moved their families, too. And we were always so close, our houses. Right next door as a matter of fact," Roy replied with a fond smile upon his face.

"Sounds wonderful. I wish I was still in contact with my childhood friends," Riza replied sadly.

For a while, the couple stood there in silence, just taking in the scene around them, basking in the light, the sounds, and the smells. In this little clearing, it felt like heaven. Nothing was wrong with it, there was no evidence of human destruction here, no signs of constructing or humans messing with this area, well except the chairs and the table. Other than that, it looked absolutely perfect, and Riza felt like she could stay there forever. She glanced up at Roy, and to her, it seemed as though he were seeing ghosts of his past dance in front of him as if his childhood days were a musical.

And indeed Roy did see him and Maes playing in the grass, rolling around and tackling, wrestling with each other. He saw as they unloaded lunches and traded snacks, dumped out piles of books on alchemy, eager to learn so that they could help people. He watched as they jumped and splashed and swam in the water of the lake, and got mud on their pants when it rained. He gazed fondly as they became teenagers, shivering in the cold winter snow, heaving snowballs twice the size of their heads at each other. And then the mirage disappeared with once last glance of them as grown men, still playing like children, talking, reading, swimming, and doing all those things that they did when they were kids. In essence, they had never grown up.

As he watched, Riza's voice came to him from a distance, and he felt someone shaking his shoulder.

"Roy? Roy are you alright?" Riza's voice asked quietly.

"Yes," he said, turning to cup her cheek lightly in his hand. "I'm fine. Just ghosts of the past coming to haunt me, that's all."

A blush blossomed upon her fair cheeks as she shut her eyes and lifted her hand to his, holding it against her skin fondly. His hand was so warm against her flesh, she felt like ice that would melt and second now. And indeed that was the way she seemed to her coworkers; like ice. She spoke with so little emotion at work that some must've found it hard to believe she was human. Yet deep inside, she was a very emotional person, but only some people got to see that side of her, and Roy Mustang was the first one to have broken the seal around her heart.

After a moment, she gazed at Roy, to find him staring at her with affection, his obsidian eyes becoming a warmer tone of black. The blush flared and she felt heat rise into her face, her heart skipping a few beats. He smiled warmly to her, tilting his head in a way that made the sun hit it so that it shone brightly, like polished onyx. She smiled back at him, weakly, feeling as though her knees would fail her, and she would collapse to the ground.

It happened so quickly. In a swift movement, Roy Mustang closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to her gently, closing his eyes. She was so surprised she nearly gasped and retreated from him, but a strong desire swept over her, and she returned the kiss, using her free hand to hold his cheek. A swell of emotions erupted from her, and poured from her, into Roy, and she could feel the same type of wave from him, but it was tormented, screaming. She felt tears come to her eyes, partly because of the sadness that blossomed in her from feeling Roy's torment, but also because everything she felt for him was opened to him, and she was glad to let it go.

Slowly, Roy broke the kiss and embraced her, both breathing hard as their breath hard been taken away. Riza pressed her head against his chest, and could feel his gasps rattling through his rib cage as his lungs desperately tried to pull oxygen into them. She, too, clung to him, never wanting to let him go, wanting to stay there forever.

"I love you, Riza," Roy said between his steadying breaths.

"And I you, Roy," she breathed quietly.

Quietly, Roy began to chuckle. She pulled away from him a little, though still holding him to look at him quizzically.

"And what's so funny all of a sudden?" she asked cautiously.

"I never knew how good a kisser you were Riza," he said, looking at her again.

"You're not too bad yourself," she replied.

"Well, now that that's settled, how about we get some ice cream or something? My treat," Roy said with another chuckle.

"Ice cream sounds nice," Riza said.

Slowly, the moved out of their embrace, and Roy moved his right arm so that he held her around the waist as they walked. Another blush crept onto her face, but she made no move to remove the hand, just put her own in front of her, one clasped in front of the other. Soon she noticed that the path they walked along was not the same as the one they came through to get to the clearing. She followed his lead for a while before become a little worried.

"Roy, this isn't the way we came through before, is it?" she asked nervously.

"No, it's not. But this way is different and will lead straight to the central market place," he replied with a smile.

Not three minutes later, he halted. She stopped as well and looked nervously at the swampy land that stood before them. From the looks of it, the water and mud was maybe two inches deep. If that was the case, she'd get her shoes and possibly her feet wet and muddy. She mentally shrugged it off though, and decided both could be easily cleaned. After all, she was a member of the military, and it did sometimes involve messy work.

Before she could take another step forward however Roy, who'd stood there contemplating with his free hand thoughtfully to his chin, whisked her up into his arms in a bridle manner and proceeded to carry her across the mud. She gasped and looked at him for an explanation, but his face held only a smile. He seemed to utterly disregard the sound of his shoes making a heavy _squish squish squishing_ sound with each step and the mud that flung itself upon his legs. She looked at him in disbelief as he carried her, and when they got out of the trees next to the market area, he put her down gently.

"What was that for?" she demanded.

"I didn't want you to get muddy," he replied simply with a matter-of-fact voice and shrug of the shoulders.

"I could've walked through it. It was no big deal. Shoes and skin are washable. Don't take me lightly because I'm a woman," she countered with an accusing tone.

"I wasn't. I was just thinking that you shouldn't have to get muddy if it wasn't necessary. Besides, it would've been a waste if it got on your skirt."

"I give up," she said with a sigh. That man was impossible! And it was so hard to argue with him, having the face that he did.

"Good, I win then. Now we'll go get our ice cream," he said triumphantly.

She nodded and he slipped his arm around her waist again and led her to the ice cream vendor. People stopped and gazed at him, whispering amongst themselves. Some wondered if someone with Riza's apparent class was dating someone so messy. Others retorted that they'd seen him carry her out of the swamp area, which gained Roy the title of a gentleman and the respect of those who'd thought otherwise.

The ice cream vendor was a young man in his late teens with short messy honey brown hair. He stood about as tall as Riza, and his eyes were emerald green. He wore a white smock over his clothes to prevent against spills and a yellow shirt could be seen just under it. As Roy and Riza approached, he gave them a warm smile and straightened his smock.

"Can I help you two?" he asked brightly. His voice was almost a sing-song tone, drifting through the mass of people in the market square.

"Yes, I'd like a large chocolate cone. What would you like Riza?" Roy said first to the vendor, then to Riza.

"Well, I don't suppose you have peach in there, would you?" she asked shyly.

"Actually, I just happen to have a great big tub of peach," the vendor replied happily.

"Wonderful. I'll have peach then," she replied.

"Got it."

The young man was swift at his work. He whisked out two cones, holding them between his fingers, and ripped open the door under which the ice cream was held. He reached aside and pulled out a scoop, which had been soaking in water, and pulled out scoop after scoop of chocolate ice cream, placing them onto one cone. Then he put the scoop back into the water, swirled it around and pulled it out again, free of ice cream. He dipped it into another area and drew out scoop after scoop of the lightly colored peach, placing it gracefully onto the other cone. In a few minutes, he was done and held out the cones to the couple.

"Here you go. That'll be two fifty please," he said smiling.

Roy nodded and took out his wallet, paying the boy extra.

"For excellent service," he said, smiling.

"Gee, thanks mister!" he said stuffing the extra money into his pocket.

Roy nodded and led Riza away from the market square over to a pier, sitting down on its edge, looking out on the ocean. For a while, they sat in silence, licking contentedly at their ice cream, gazing out at the sparkling water. The sun reflected on its blue surface, shining brilliantly. For Roy, it made all those days of rain worth while. He could withstand any amount of rain as long as the promise of being with Riza followed. He embraced her waist as he sat next to her, never wanting the moment to end, never wanting her to be torn from his grasp.

Without notice, Riza quietly leaned her head against his shoulder, leading him to gasp and hold her waist closer to him. A smile crept onto his face, but he said nothing, continuing to eat his frozen treat.

"This... it's so magical," Riza said finally.

"What do you mean?" Roy asked, shifting his gaze to her hair. It shone in the sun like delicate strands of gold that even the angels would be jealous of.

"It's like a romance novel. Two people sitting alone quietly, unable to say a word, surrounded by a beautiful landscape."

"Well, I beg to differ. It certainly seems like we're able to talk," he contradicted with a playful chuckle.

"Yes, that's true. But... oh never mind."

He smiled and licked the chocolate from his lips as he continued to stare at her hair. Then, slowly, he moved his head to hers and gently kissed her hair. At first she stiffened in surprise and then sank deeper into his shoulder with a relaxed sigh. And for another extended period of time, they sat in silence. Standing next to them, one could only hear the breeze coming in from the sea, the waves crashing against the rocks below the pier, and the crunching of the ice cream cones as they bit mercilessly into them.

* * *

Again, this is a section that doesn't end where it should. Honestly, this is a really really really long section, and I'm still writing it. But I love leaving you people out on a limb. So maul me if you must, I really don't care. In the next section, it's gonna get a little heated. WOOO!> Personally, I enjoyed writing this section, even though it was hard. Well, Ja ne!


	15. Chapter 15

Ok, in the section of the series I've seen (Ep 1-26) they give almost no stardom to Riza, which is Evil. She's one of my favorite characters. So I decided to give her my own little background thing, which will be revealed a bit more thoroughly in the next chapter.  
Again, this still isn't the end of this section really. I'm very tempted to write my little head off, screw homework, just so I can stop writing that. But I have a lot of ideas for this part, so it could go on for another ten pages. We'll just have to see. As a sidenote, I'd like to say, that I've been printing out this story as it goes, and it's currently 36 pages.  
As a last thing, I'd like to say hi to The8thsin, who's been following this story oh so very loyally, and giving me wonderful comments and death threats. Until next time, Ja ne!

* * *

They seemed to sit there for hours, and by the time they decided to get up, the sun had begun to set and the air became chilled. They stood up slowly and began to walk to the main road. Once reaching the main road, the walked in silence, each one thinking too many thoughts to speak. They were surrounded by the sounds of cars as the sped by, and children on their way home for supper. This time, it was Riza who led Roy, being as he really didn't know where her house was too well. They walked for twenty minutes, and the sun had set further now, spilling colors into the sky. Riza stopped in front of a large white house on a dirt road which had led from a back road which had broken from the main one. A small fence surrounded a large property around the house. Looking around, Roy noticed that Riza had few neighbors; as houses were spaced apart and were few. He wondered how she could afford this house.

Riza quietly opened the gate and led him to the front door. She reached for the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open. She led Roy inside and shut the door. She then took off her shoes, set them aside and cupped a hand to the side of her mouth.

"Hayate! I'm home!" she called out to the house.

Instantly, the pup darted into the small foyer from a room to the left and jumped onto Riza's leg, yipping and wagging his tail eagerly. She bent over to pet him and he panted a little, licked her hand and then directed his attention to Roy, who was trying to remove his shoes. He had just removed his second shoe, which was still caked with a little swamp mud, when Hayate tackled the leg that remained on the floor, forcing Roy backwards and onto his back. The dog then took this opportunity to advance to the man's face, standing on Roy's chest and feverishly licking him. Roy sputtered in surprise and laughed.

"Hayate! Off!" Riza commanded, and the pup bounced off of Roy's chest and sat next to him with a protesting bark. "I'm so sorry, Roy. He gets too excited sometimes."

"Don't worry about it. I love dogs. When I was a kid, I always wanted one, but my parents would never let me get one. Even if I told them I'd pay for it and take care of it."

"Oh, I see. Well, Hayate shouldn't be acting like this in any case," she said, picking him up and tapping him on the nose.

"He was excited to see me. At least he wasn't trying to bite me," Roy replied as he tried to wipe the slobber off his face.

"Here, I'll get you a towel," Riza said touching his shoulder.

He nodded and she set Hayate down and scurried off and up the stairs to the bathroom. Hayate yipped and Roy sat next to the pup, stroking his back and scratching him behind the ears. The dog let out a contented sigh and sat next to Roy, tilting his head into Roy's hand.

A few minutes later, Riza came down the stairs with a washcloth and handed it to him. He smiled gratefully and took it from her. It was warm and moist, so she must have soaked it in warm water first. He raised the cloth to his face and washed his cheeks, eyelids, forehead; everywhere. When he felt that his face was free of puppy slobber, he stood with the cloth in hand.

"Where should I put this?" he asked.

"In that room over there, if you will. On top of the washer," she said, pointing to a door on the right.

He nodded and walked to the door and placed the cloth on top of the washer, which stood in a small room barely big enough to hold a bed. He shut the door and walked back to her and she led him into the living room, where she bid him to sit. She then disappeared into a room beyond the foyer and came back with some wine and two glasses. She set the glasses down, opened the bottle and poured for them both.

"Thank you," Roy said, smiling.

"Welcome," she replied, sipping from her glass.

Roy sighed and lifted his glass, taking a small sip as he looked around the living room. He sat on a three person couch, and in front of him was a glass coffee table. A fireplace sat across the room from him, and upon the mantle were picture frames. From the sofa, he couldn't make out faces or exact details of the photographs, but he could faintly make out three people together in the photos on the right, and two on the left showed only two people. On the walls, paintings covered parts of the jade green painted room. There was a shelf on either side of him; one held little trinkets and figurines, the other more pictures with a pistol hung above it. In the pictures below the gun, he could faintly make out a man in a military uniform. Behind him was a small table, strewn with opened letters and papers.

"Your house is beautiful Riza. I could never afford something so nice," Roy commented, turning his attention back to his glass. Hayate, who'd followed them in and napped on an oriental rug in front of the coffee table got up, padded to another spot of the rug and resumed napping.

"Thank you. Honestly, neither could I. Not yet on my salary anyways," she said distantly.

"What do you mean?"

"My father was in the military. A general. He bought this house and one in Central before he met my mother. Since I was the only child, when he passed on, I inherited both homes."

"I see," Roy said taking another sip of his wine. "But then, why didn't your mother inherit it instead?"

"Mother died when I was eight years old."

"Oh. I'm sorry," he said, looking down.

"It's ok. You didn't know."

After that, an awkward silence crept almost menacingly into the room. Roy felt nervous, afraid to ask her anything else, for fear that he would upset her. The way she talked about her mother dying, it was as if the subject brought more pain with it than the hurt of losing someone. It was almost bitter. After a while, she stood and started for the door.

"I'll start dinner," she said quietly.

Her eyes became downcast as she walked out, and Roy followed her, concerned.

He followed her into a large kitchen/dining room. The table was a dark wood and black cushioned chairs surrounded it. In the middle was a small vase of flowers, a napkin holder and salt and pepper. The floor was hardwood, polished to a shine in the room's light. Riza walked quietly to the fridge and opened it, peering inside, searching.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Anything. I'm sure anything you cook will be wonderful," he said with a quiet smile.

She paused for a moment and then slammed the door shut, leaned against it and slid down it's front. She put a hand to her forehead, and Roy could see her shaking a little. He walked to her side and sat down, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

She was silent for a moment, trembling, and then small whines escaped her. Each whine tore at Roy's heart. It pained him to see her like this. She was one of the strongest people he knew, and here she was reduced to whimpering like a child. It was all he could do to not break down beside her.

"Riza, please, tell me what's wrong," he pleaded. He felt so helpless as he sat there, unable to do anything but sit next to her. He moved his hand around her to her other shoulder, and pulled her so that her head was pressed against shoulder. Almost instantly, he felt wetness against the sleeve and dripping down his arm.

"I-I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"No. No need to be sorry. It's alright to be sad, Riza. Come on, tell me what's bothering you. You can trust me."

She trembled fiercely with each breath she took. Finally she sighed and spun so that she was sitting on his lap, clinging to his shirt, burying her face into his chest. She whimpered again and then cried out. This caused Hayate to yip from the living room and pad into the kitchen, where he sat two feet in front of Roy, cocking his head to the side as though to ask what was wrong with his master. Roy's eyes narrowed with sorrow and he put his arms around her, rocking gently.

"Shhhhhh. It's ok, it's ok. I'm here for you," he whispered into her hair.

"Roy," she whispered with a shudder.

"Yes, Riza?" he asked soothingly.


	16. Chapter 16

>Sigh> Ok, I haven't had ANY time to write lately, but I had this part all set up. Honestly, I was too lazy to put it up until now. I've been practicing a lot of a solo competition only to find out today (the competition's tomorrow) that I'm not going. -.-; ok well, this section is almost done, and then we'll move to a totally different setting and a new plot twist. I've got it all figured out! >points at head> So I hope you enjoy this moderately steamy section >wink>and no threats for the plot twist. Revealed in good time it will be.  
Oh, one last remark. Temest Kiro , I know you tried to give me a link to...something about the manga, but it never showed up. if you don't mind, please write it again.  
Well, until next time! Ja ne!

* * *

"Father was a brilliant marksman. He could shoot anything, moving or not, no matter what size it was. He had trained for years and years, and it was his skill that brought him to the rank of general," she whispered. 

Roy said nothing. He felt that if he replied, she'd recoil and not talk anymore. So he just kept rocking, holding her in his arms, trying not to cry in sympathy for her.

"When Father married Mother, he was hoping for a son, so that he could teach him to be good with weapons too. He wanted someone who could follow in his footsteps and keep respect in the Hawkeye name. Instead, my mother gave birth to me, and he became disappointed. He felt that women should not hold a gun, that they were too weak. But then Mother got sick, and was unable to have more children. Frustrated, he decided that he'd teach me anyways, hoping that he could force me into the military and keep his name alive. But Mother opposed to me learning how to shoot a gun, and wouldn't allow it. She and Father would argue about it night after night, saying that I needed to be strong to be in the military and I needed to learn how to fire a weapon. Mother always asked him if he ever thought what I'd wanted; if I wanted to be in the military. He would scream that he didn't care, that I didn't make the choices about what I wanted to do with my future.

"When I was eight, Mother's sickness got worse, and after a month in the hospital, she died. Father didn't mourn her for very long, and took the opportunity to start training me in firing weapons. Since I only had father left, I trusted him, and was blinded to what I really wanted to be; a nurse. When he passed on when I was seventeen, he asked me to forgive him, for not letting me live out my own dreams. I didn't answer him, and he died. Out of respect for him, I continued to practice marksmanship, and joined the military a few years later, the same year as you. Even now, I bet he's upset that I didn't answer him. But I do. I forgive him. If... if he hadn't taught me to shoot... I may have never met you. I wish I'd told him though."

She continued to cry for a while in his arms, and he reflected on her words. She had wanted to be a nurse when she was a kid. But her father had forced her to be a marksman. She could have become a nurse when he died, but she didn't. Even after everything he put her through, she had obeyed his wishes. She had forgiven him. After about four minutes, he pulled her away from him and lifted her chin to look at him. She sniffled and looked at him with a tear-streaked face. He smiled and pushed stray strands of her hair from her face.

"Now look at you," he said with a chuckle. "This isn't the Riza I know. The real Riza walks around with a face like this at work;" he fixed his expression to look as comedically cold as he could.

It must've looked pretty funny, because she laughed at his face. He grinned at her and ruffled the top of her hair a bit.

"There. Now _that's_ what I like to see," he said.

"And what's that?" she asked playfully.

"Your beautiful smile," he replied.

She smiled at him and then gasped as he pulled her close to him again. He buried his head in her sweet smelling hair, breathing it in as though it were incense.

"Thank you for telling me Riza," he whispered.

She was silent, clinging to him again, not wanting to let him go, for fear she would fall into a never-ending void of despair.

Then he lifted her chin and pressed his lips to hers, strongly, passionately. She put her arms around his shoulders and embraced him, kissing him back. They kissed each other hungrily, cheeks, lips, eyes, neck. It was as though they were starving, and only the other's flesh could satisfy their hunger. He held her tighter, closer to him, moving his hands so that they slipped up her shirt, thumbs resting against her belly. She shivered; his hands were so cold. But for some reason, it brought her such pleasure, and she showered him with kisses, all over his face and neck. He moaned quietly as she nipped at his flesh and kissed her forehead.

In minutes, it was over, and she sat in his lap still, leaning against his shoulder, her shoulder pressed against his chest . Both were gasping for air. Roy took his hands from under her blouse and put them around her outward facing shoulder. He glanced towards Hayate, who was now laying down and looking up at the couple. The pup sat up and chuffed, wagging his tail. Roy smiled and then looked at the clock on the wall across from him. Somehow, it had managed to be eight thirty. Riza moaned quietly, breathing into Roy's neck, which sent chills of pleasure up his spine.


	17. Chapter 17

Ok, well, I'm sorry I haven't had time to update, but what with moving and finally getting my room going and everything. It's been a real hassle. But school's almost over, the homework's gone for the next few months, and I have time to write! WOOO! So I'm very sorry about not updating. But here it is at last! I hope you like it.

Oh, I'll comment now on Recoil, since I'm too lazy to do it on that page. It was just something I thought of while sitting in the school library, bored out of my mind with no final to take. I have NOTHING against the RoyxRiza thing, in fact, they are my favorite FMA couple. It's just that I was bored and felt like experimenting with tragedy and that sorta stuff. So, read Recoil if you get the chance. Have fun! Ja ne!

"Riza. I nearly forgot. I'm very sorry, but I have to leave by at least ten o'clock tonight."

"Yeah?" she gasped.

"Yes. I promised to meet Maes at the bar tonight. He says there's something he wants to discuss with me."

"I see. Alright. I should make dinner then, shouldn't I?" she replied.

"Only if you're not going to crash to the floor again," he said with a chuckle.

"I promise," she said with a laugh.

He let her go and she stood, pulling him up. He moved to the side while she searched the fridge again, this time with a contented smile on her face. He smiled as he watched her. He was so happy to see her smiling, instead of in pain. He knelt and picked up Hayate, who protested with a low growl and pet him with one hand, holding him with the other. The dog ignored being disturbed and wagged his tail, throwing his head left and right in an attempt to catch the man's hand. In a few seconds he did, and playfully bit at it, but Roy didn't mind. He just watched Riza.

"So, how about some chicken or something?" Riza asked as she rummaged through the refrigerator.

"Sure. Anything's fine," Roy replied as he freed his hand from the pup and pet him.

She roughly pulled out a package of chicken and placed it on the counter. She then also retrieved rice and a vegetable, which looked like leek, and set that atop the counter top as well. She then set about preparing, something she was very talented at. Roy watched in amazement on the floor as she whisked out a knife from a drawer and sliced and cleaned the chicken, gracefully throwing it into the oven. She put the rice and a bit of water in a pot and put it on a warming burner, allowing it to simmer. The leek, she cut into smaller pieces and put in a frying pan with a little bit of butter.

It was done within a short period of time, and she swiftly carried the plates to the table and set them down. Roy smiled and was tempted to clap as though he were watching a cooking show, but refrained. Instead, he stood as Riza headed back to the counter to get Hayate's plate, and gripped her gently by the shoulders. She stopped and looked at him skeptically, and before she could protest, he kissed her again. It wasn't long, but still passionate, and when it was over, they were both gasping for breath.

"What was that for?" Riza breathed.

"Because you're an amazing chef," he replied simply.

She smirked, but her mind wanted to tell her he was using her. But that was ridiculous, he loved her, and she loved him. Her mind, it was just so conditioned to being secluded from relationships.

"Well, thank you," she said quietly. She returned to the counter and set Hayate's plate upon the floor next to the dining table. "Please, sit down."

He nodded and sat in the chair next to hers, where his plate had been set. Hesitantly, he glanced to Riza. Her head was low, hair down now and falling past her face to cover her eyes. Slowly, Roy reached to her and pushed the strands of gold which were nearer to him behind her ear. She flinched nervously at his touch, but did not look at him. Instead, he watched as a blush made its way onto her face. He smiled and turned his attention to the meal before him.

It really was good food. He ate quietly, but hungrily, each swallow in anticipation of a new forkfull.

"This is really good," Roy said as he shoved another forkfull of rice into his mouth.

"Well, thank you. I had to learn how to cook at a very young age, you know," Riza replied contentedly.

He nodded and shoveled more food into his mouth. Soon his plate was empty, and he quietly drank a glass of water which had been previously set before him.

"Delicious," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"Are you sure you even tasted it, Roy?" Riza laughed. "You wolfed it down as though you hadn't eaten in a month."

"Not something that good," he replied with a smile.

"Thank you," she said again.

Soon, she was done as well, and they moved to the living room, where they sat upon the couch, just generally enjoying one another's company. They joked about people at work and how Hughes' daughter had gotten so big and amazingly adorable over the years. True, she was only four still, but she was still one of the cutest children either had seen.

"Maes is one lucky man," Roy said after a momentary silence.

"Yeah. He's got a good paying job, a wonderful family, and a great friend," Riza agreed, poking Roy's nose playfully at the end of her remark.

"Well, I doubt that last part, but definitely a wonderful family. I wonder if he's really happy being in the military though. I mean, it puts him in so much risk. I wouldn't want to have a family knowing that I could be killed in the line of duty one day and them having to be told that."

"Yes, well people can die at any moment. It doesn't necessarily make it any much more ensured that someone will die at work just because they are in the military. Someone could be killed in a theft on their way home from work and be a businessman," Riza said thoughtfully.

"I suppose that's true. But one must consider how much hatred there is for the military, especially after Ishbal. But I can't say that I blame them for hating it; it's not full of the morals that everyone thought they were."

"Indeed."

For a while, the two sat in quiet thought. Roy questioned himself. Originally, he had joined the military in the hopes to become Fuhrer and make the world a better place. But was he, too, seeped in corruption and blind arrogance? Did he use his power as a military officer for his own, personal reasons? Sure, he had to become Fuhrer, but that was no reason to abuse his authority. Well, whatever the cost at this point, he was going to make the world a better place, and in order to do that, he had to become Fuhrer first.

"Riza," Roy said quietly, staring at the pictures sitting above the fireplace.

"Yes?" she answered just as distantly.

"When you joined the military, it was out of respect for your father, wasn't it? But... you could have quit at any time and pursued your dream. So why didn't you?"

A long, awkward silence followed. Roy, who stared intently at the photographs lying boldly upon the mantel, hadn't expected much of an answer. It was after all difficult to explain his own plans for joining the military, most might find it silly after all. Once one thought about it, peace for the world, in the sense that Roy had dreamed of it seemed like a distant dream, a worthless ideal. Often times, Roy would sit in his study at home and wonder if his dreams were indeed foolish.

"I'm not sure really," Riza said finally. "And you? What's your excuse?"

Roy didn't hear the question. He had resumed his reminiscing in the past, back to Ishbal, after Ishbal, when he first joined the military. He remembered when he and Hughes had graduated from High School.


	18. Chapter 18

Ok, well, this part is finally over! Huzzah! It took me well over a month to write this entire section, and it wouldn't have taken so long if I didn't have so much homework, but there was nothing I could do. Anyways, now I finally got Roy going to the bar, and the plot twist I have in store for you will come soon, too. So be ready for that, and please be patient, I have to work this summer, and I don't know how much time I'll have to write, but I promise I will write whenever I get the chance.

As a sidenote, I want to say that I have absolutely no knowledge of Roy and Maes and their childhood, but it's always fun to make stuff up, and turn them into the most rambunctious little kids I can. So, it's kinda OC, but I think everyone's getting a little bit OC, but I'm trying not to make it so bad the character doesn't seem like themselves anymore. So if you think any character is going way way too OC, let me know, and I'll make a note to fix it.

Flashback

"So, what next?" Roy asked Maes on the way home from graduation day. They had torn their gowns from their persons, revealing the shirts and jeans they wore beneath. Their parents, walking far behind had taken the gowns and were reveling about the boys' intelligence. Roy carelessly threw his hands behind his head.

"I dunno. We're men now, remember that. Well, at least I am," Maes replied with a laugh.

"Hey! We both graduated! That doesn't make you any more of a man than me!"

"Yeah, well. I'm more mature."

Roy threw a playful punch into Maes' arm and both men laughed. It'd been like this since they could remember. It was true that in a way, Maes was the more mature man, but he, like Roy, had his younger side, so to speak, though Roy was always more eager to show it.

"We're still gonna study alchemy, right?" Roy asked low enough so their parents couldn't hear. To him, it seemed like his parents had super-sonic hearing sometimes.

"Of course. And here's another plan; we could join the military," Maes said with conspiracy in his voice.

"The military!" Roy nearly shouted the words, but was quieted when Maes slammed his fist into his arm.

"Yes. They have this group of people, called State Alchemists, they have every authority of a police officer, and they get paid to use their alchemic skills. I was reading about it last night in the library."

"Paid to use alchemy?"

"Yeah. And you can help people. You know how they're always saying the military is there to help. And you said you wanted to have a career that helped people anyways."

"Yeah, but people hate the military," Roy pointed out.

"But if you become the Fuhrer, leader of the military, you could change all that, and make the world a better place."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. So how about it? You and me together?"

"Sure. Let's do it," Roy said, raising a fist triumphantly.

"Well, now that that's settled, what about family?" Maes asked after a moment's silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you going to get married?" Maes asked with a grin.

"I don't know. Probably not. Maybe. Why?"

"Well, I hope to, one day," Maes said distantly.

"Who's gonna wanna marry you?" Roy asked in a playful tone.

"Well, I met this girl at work the other day. She's really beautiful and nice, and her voice is really sweet. I think I'm gonna ask her out."

"Yeah? What's her name?" Roy asked with a smile.

"Gracia."

Roy gave his friend a playful pat on the back and grinned. "Well, good luck then, my friend."

End Flashback

Roy gasped as a cool hand felt his forehead. His eyes refocused as he blinked to find Riza standing in front of him, bent over slightly so that she could reach his face. A look of concern was etched on her face, and Hayate, who had magically appeared on the couch next to him was yipping as though echoing his master's concern.

"What's wrong?" he inquired after a moment.

"You stopped talking for a moment, and then your face became a little flushed. Are you sick?" Riza asked. Anxiety furrowed her brow as she removed her hand and muttered to herself; "Well, you don't have a fever."

"No, I'm fine," he said, rubbing his temples. "I was just thinking about the past again."

"Oh. Well anyways, I just thought you should know, it's nearly ten."

"Oh really? Then I should get going. I'm terribly sorry to have to leave like this."

"Don't worry about it. It's for a friend, and from your tone of voice, it sounds very important."

"Yes well, it very well could be. Maes sounded very serious on the phone when he asked me to join him. To make it up to you, how about you come over for lunch tomorrow, since we don't have work?"

_That's right, _Riza thought. _Tomorrow's Saturday, isn't it? We have Saturdays and Sundays off, don't we? At least unless something important happens._

"Sure," she said.

"Ok then. Come to my house at noon. I promise I'll make it up to you," Roy said as he laced up his shoes and opened the door.

"Alright. Just...Roy," she blurted just as he was about to step out of the house.

"Yes?" he asked as he turned to face her.

His lips were then entrapped by hers, and he gasped at her coming on to him like this, but shut his eyes and returned the kiss. When she pulled away, her eyes were downcast, hair falling over her face.

"Just. Just be careful, ok?" Riza asked.

"I will," Roy said as he embraced her.

Riza shut her eyes and leaned into him. He was so warm, as though he was indeed the Flame Alchemist in all meanings of the words. She wondered how his icy eyes could contrast his warmth so much. She then noticed that suddenly, she was cold again. She opened her eyes to find that she was standing alone at the open door, and that Roy was gone. Hurriedly, she rushed out, onto the steps just in time to catch Roy dart around the curb and disappear into the night, the phantom of a kiss warm against her cheek.

AHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger! And a romantic one at that. I wrote this yesterday, when I didn't have school, and my mom read this last paragraph and she was like 'aww! That's cute!' so well, it sounds ok. My romance scenes are improving, or at least I'd like to think. (Nervous laugh) so anyways, see you next time! Ja ne!


	19. Chapter 19

This is a kinda short section compared to the full section dealing with Riza's house. It is however, the location of the _start_ of the plot twist I promised you faithful readers. However, it is merely the start, so don't get all that excited. Of course, if you look into it deep enough, you can probably see where the story's heading, but maybe not. Maybe I only say that cause I know what's gonna happen! Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't posted as often as I'd like to, but despite the fact that school's now out, I haven't had that much time to write, nor have I had the inspiration to write effectively. Needless to say, it could take a while. But I promise to you that within the next few days, I'll post again, as the section directly after this one is finished, only because it's a short one. So anyway, enjoy!

Roy Mustang reached the bar with a few minutes to spare before Maes would chastise him for being late. Maes was never late a day in his life. Never. In fact, he was almost always early. So when Roy stepped into the bar, nearly out of breath from running there from Riza's house, he wasn't all too surprised to find Maes sitting there in the far corner of bar counter, where they always sat, staring into a glass of water. Roy walked over and sat on the stool next to his friend and stared at the glass with him, catching his breath.

"You ran all the way here," Maes commented.

"Riza's house is about thirty-five minutes from here if you walk. I didn't feel like you griping about me being late," Roy said quietly.

"Yeah? I've never been to her house, but I took my car here, so it's not like it really matters for me. You should get a car."

"I like walking better."

"What can I get you boys?" the bartender asked as he approached them.

The bartender was a man roughly in his forties, with a strong, muscular build. He was tanned, and if his eyes were red, he could've passed easily for an Ishbalan. His hair was short, poofy and black, and a mustache adorned his face. He wore a white shirt and black pants, which were mainly hidden by a white apron, to keep his clothes protected against a possible spill. Roy didn't recognize the man, as he and Maes drank at this bar at least once a week, just to catch up on things and generally spend time together. Instead of being concerned, however, he just figured the place had a new bartender and that it was no big deal.

"Scotch on the rocks for me," Maes said casually.

"And a beer for me please, in a glass if you don't mind," Roy replied, studying the man's face.

"Coming up," the man said and walked down to the shelves where the drinks were sitting.

Neither man said anything while they were waiting for their drink. Roy figured what Maes had to tell him had to come out right, so he was searching for the right words. As for Roy, he merely let Maes think, and in the meantime, glanced around the bar, as though expecting to find someone suspicious sitting at the counter. Down towards the middle, was a young woman in a long black dress. Her hair was black, and long enough to pass her shoulders. Dark lipstick covered her thin lips, and long gloves extended from her fingertips to her shoulders. She held a coy smile on her face and she talked to the bartender, who was pouring drinks.

"Does it smell a bit odd to you in here?" Maes asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Roy asked, turning his attention to his friend.

"It smells different in here. Not just like booze and smoke, but... I don't know I just can't place it," he replied with a stern look on his face.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I suppose there is a different kind of stench in here," Roy commented, sniffing the air.

Before Maes could answer, two glasses were set before them. Roy nearly jumped in surprise, and looked up at the bartender, who was standing before them, almost menacingly.

"Thanks," Maes said with a fake smile.

The man nodded and walked back towards the woman, where the two resumed their conversation. The woman put a hand to her mouth with a smile and appeared to be laughing, and for a moment, the tender gave a small chuckle, but returned to his serious demeanor within seconds.

"So anyway," Maes said startlingly. "I think I have some information about that book you told me about."

That's right. He'd told Maes about the book after Riza left his house last night. He'd gotten information that quick?

"When did you start looking into it?" Roy asked, inclining his head towards him.

"Last night after you called. I have some..." Maes paused to take a sip of his drink. "Reference books in my study about different novels and books written. There's one written entirely on the books written during and about Ishbal."

"You are one seriously obsessed man," Roy said with a sigh. "But why did you feel such a need to look into it? I mean, it's just a book after all. No real cause for alarm."

"That's what I thought at first. But when I looked into it, there's no record of that book in any of my references."

"So? Maybe someone just didn't record it. Or maybe it wasn't published until _after_ your references were set out."

"That's what I figured for a while. But when I checked the copyright date on it, it was dated to only a year or so ago. There's no way a book like that could've been publish after the reference book if it was written during Ishbal."

"So then, what are you saying, exactly?"

"I'm saying that it's not on record. And that's because it wasn't supposed to be. Someone didn't want people to read it."

"But there's two copies, that I know of. The one Riza gave me and the one she has."

"It's not just the lack of reference. It's also the similarities to your experience in Ishbal."

"So just what are you getting at?" Roy asked anxiously.

"I'm saying that the copies you and Riza have are most likely the only two out there; and that there's a reason for that."

For a while, neither man said anything, merely sipping their drinks. Then, spontaneously, Roy downed his in a gulp. It wasn't that he felt like getting drunk all of a sudden, it was more that he needed to feel it burning down his throat. He needed to prepare for what Maes was going to say next.

"Maybe," Maes said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Whoever wrote the book _wanted_ you to have it."

"I don't understand."

"Well, you help Edward and give him leads about the Philosopher's Stone, right?"

"Well, yeah. But what does that have to do with the book?"

"Have you ever heard of the term, 'homunculus?'"

"Sure I have. They're supposed to be bodies without souls, like walking dolls, right?"

"Right."

"But they're only legends, how does that tie in?"

"Edward has informed me that on several occasions, he has encountered homunculi," Maes said darkly.

"They exist? Really?"

"Apparently so. And they want Edward to make them a Philosopher's Stone so that they can become human."

"So if they want Fullmetal, why suddenly start messing with my head? This doesn't make sense Maes," Roy said with a bit of anxiety in his voice.

"I think they're wondering if you have information, or the capabilities that deal with the creation of the Stone. If so, they could be using the book to try to get you to remember, or to break you down. Everyone knows about Roy Mustang and his deeds in the military during the Ishbal Rebellion. Few know of the reality of those deeds. If you're a target, they no doubt know about what you did. So if they use this book to break you down, they can force information out of you. Either that, or they think they can get to Edward through you. I'm not sure really."

"Or maybe we just don't you to tell what you really know about the Stone to anyone," a voice from behind them said. Both men spun around on their stools to find that the woman who was previously sitting at the middle of the counter was standing behind them.

Roy and Maes gasped in unison and leaned back as far as they could. Roy slipped a hand into his pocket, which allowed him to slip on a glove, and Maes withdrew a kunai from his own pocket. Both men prepared to attack the woman standing before them.

"You're one of them. A homunculus," Maes said bitterly.

"Ah, indeed I am," the woman droned. "Now, Mustang, I just want you to tell me _everything_ you really know about the Stone. Including what you're hiding from the Fullmetal boy."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Roy said, bringing his gloved hand in front of him.

"Oh no? How about I remind you!" said a voice from behind the counter.

Before Roy could spin around, a large hand clasped his throat and lifted him from his chair. Roy inclined his head a little to see that it was the bartender who had him, although his voice was different now. He tried to raise his hand to snap, but his hand was grabbed and the glove ripped from his hand with such force that Roy cried out, feeling his wrist pop out of place.

"Uh uh uh," the voice taunted. "We can't have any of that in here, now can we?"

"You bastard! Let him go!" Maes shouted, ready to throw the kunai. Before he could, however, the woman extended her fingers into his arm, forcing him to drop the knife.

"Maes!" Roy screamed, but the grip around his throat tightened, and he choked on the word, hearing it come out rasped and broken.

"Stay out of it," the voice said. Roy realized that the voice sounded young, almost like that of an adolescent.

"Envy, remember not to kill him. He has some important information for us. Like where we can find a complete Philosopher's Stone," the woman said as she moved closer to Maes.

"I know, I know. Geez Lust, you're like a nagging mother or something," said the voice holding Roy.

"I only nag you because you're an out-of-control idiot, and you'd have killed him already," Lust said with a bored tone.

"I would not! I'd torture the Fullmetal pipsqueak with him first. Then I'd kill him," Envy said defiantly.

"Torture Fullmetal? What the hell do you mean?" Roy asked.

"The brat practically considers you like a best friend or something. It's really quite sad. I'd almost think it was cute, but he's got that bastard's blood in him, and that just can't be ignored."

"What do you...you mean Hohenheim?" Roy whispered. The grip on his throat had grown tighter still, and he could feel himself on the edge of unconsciousness.

Suddenly, a fist slammed into his back, causing Roy to scream in pain, and his body to hang limply. He felt his entire body throb, and he felt like he was paralyzed.

"Don't you ever say that name again!" the homunculus spat.

"What? You mean _Hohenheim_?" Roy taunted. He wasn't too sure why he did it. He sort of hoped that he would drop him, and he could get to Maes. There was a small pool of blood under his friend, and he clutched his arm, but the female homunculus wouldn't let it go, and had hold of his hair with her other hand, pulling up his head to watch the action.

Well, the word drove Envy into a fit, and he threw Roy into the wall so that he slumped to lean against it, sitting on the counter top. Then the homunculus shifted into what must've been his real form and leapt onto the counter in front of Roy and grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"Who do you think you are, smart ass? You like the idea of dying? Is that it?" Envy said acidly. His long green locks were swaying everywhere with each movement, and the sight vaguely reminded Roy of a palm tree swaying in the wind.

"So, why do you hate Fullmetal? He's supposed to be the one to make you human. Is it just because he's Hohenheim's son?" Roy asked weakly.

Then the homunculus shifted again, this time into Edward, with the top plate of his automail arm transmuted into a blade.

"You've got one hell of a mouth on you," Envy said in Edward's voice. If Roy hadn't seen this...thing transform into the blonde-haired teen, he would've never known the difference.

Ironically, Roy laughed. There obviously wasn't anything funny about the situation, but nevertheless he began to laugh. This of course was a bad move on his part, and his laughter was cut short by a sharp pain in his abdomen. He gasped and looked down to find the source of his pain was in the form of Edward/Envy's automail blade thrust into his stomach. He coughed and watched as blood splattered onto the counter top and flung itself onto the boy's face.

"Envy!" Lust said with a little bit of alarm in her voice.

"Relax," Envy said as he removed the blade and shifted back to his original form. "I missed his vitals. With any luck, he won't bleed to death."

Lust heaved a heavy, disappointed sigh and retracted her fingers from Maes' arm.

"Let's go then. He won't be able to give us answers in this condition," she said.

"Oh fine. Besides, you left Wrath and Gluttony by themselves, and if I know Wrath, he'd have tried to get a game going, Gluttony'd have eaten it, and Wrath is throwing one of his infamous temper tantrums," Envy said with a shiver.

The two homunculi gave a smile to the two men and walked casually out the door, disappearing into the night.

Roy merely stared as they left, lightly putting a hand to his wound. He coughed roughly and more blood splattered onto the counter top. He was feeling really light-headed and his vision dimmed. He distantly heard a scream, but he couldn't decide whose it was.

"Roy!" the voice screamed. A person grabbed his shoulder and the voice became closer. "Stay with me Roy! Come on! Say something! Stay with me! Tell where Riza's house is at least!"

"Two blocks...downtown...off a side road...then about fifty feet...then onto a dirt road...big white house..."

"Ok, good enough. Stay awake ok? Say something. Keep talking."

But Roy's vision was black now, and he no longer found the energy to speak. The last thing he heard was, "ROY!" And then darkness.

Ha! Another cliffhanger! At this point, I'm expecting to be murdered by Roy lovers in my sleep, but please, do not kill me yet! At least wait until I'm done writing this story. THEN you can kill me. Well, this section actually only took about 4 hours, when I was waiting for my test to come along, and I had a lot of things set for this chapter. I'm really sorry if I'm inconsistent with the distances and location details, but I'm far too lazy to stare at the page for hours, trying to figure out where the heck I put the location of Riza's house. Anyways, I think it's about right.

As a completely random sidenote for those of you who have read Recoil, it is a ONESHOT story. Sorry, if I didn't make it clear, but the top part, talking about the physical characteristics of a recoil IS the prologue and ends at the page break. ('') Sorry about the confusion, just thought I'd clear it up for you. I'm out! Ja ne!

Words of wisdom;

Armstrong's muscles are formed with the use of a bicycle pump


	20. Chapter 20

Wow! Chapter 20! I never thought this would happen! This is a milestone for me!

Ok well, this is a short section, just a midpointish kinda thing for me to tie in, bring Riza back in, and give a little focus on Maes. I promise to put a longer Maes focus in for you Hughes fans, but it's mostly for me, coz I love Maes to no end. So anyways, this is short, and the next section is gonna take a while, coz I'm not done writing it yet. Anyways, don't maul me please, and enjoy!

Riza Hawkeye didn't expect to hear someone knocking on her door at eleven fifty at morning, so when she heard the frantic slams against her door, she put on a robe over her satin nightgown and shuffled to the door. Of course, when she wearily opened the door, half expecting her steps to be empty and the knock the work of teenage vandals, she certainly did not expect Maes Hughes to be standing on her doorstep, blood dripping down his right arm, holding up Roy, blood dripping from a wound in his stomach and lightly from his mouth.

"Oh my goodness! Maes! What happened to you two!" Riza screamed as she helped him get Roy into the house and onto the couch in the living room.

"We were attacked at the bar...by homunculi," Maes said weakly.

"Did you drag Roy all the way here with that arm of your like that?"

"Had to. He passed out soon after they left."

"Well, you sit down and rest. I'll be right back," Riza said as she rushed out and up the stairs.

She ran into the bathroom, pulling out everything she possibly could, putting it all in a pile; the first aid kit, towels, anything. She then picked it all up and hurried down the stairs and back into the living room, where she dropped it all, picked up one of the towels and pressed it to Roy's abdomen. She then handed a towel to Maes, where he pressed it against his arm, sighing heavily, letting out a weak laugh.

"I should call my wife, and let her know that I won't be home tonight," Maes said with a smile.

"The phone's over there, feel free to use it," Riza said distractedly. She was busying herself with pressing harder and harder onto the wound, which caused the unconscious Roy to groan in pain.

"Thanks," he said as he got up. He walked to the phone and picked up the receiver, and fumbled to put it between his head and his shoulder. Still pressing the towel to his arm with his left hand, he slowly dialed his phone number.

"Hey honey?... Hi... Yeah, it's me... No... Listen, I won't be home tonight... No, not work, Roy and I got into some trouble at the bar... No, I'm ok, don't worry about it... Yeah, I'm fine... Just give Alicia a kiss for me, ok?... Love you too... Bye."

Maes put the receiver down and shuffled back to the couch, where he sat, leaning against the arm closest to Roy's head. He sighed again and looked at Roy with a look of sad humor in his eyes.

"Geez, Roy. If you'd just shut up, he wouldn't have stabbed you like that. You're way too reckless."

"What do you mean?"

"One of the homunculi has a grudge against Edward's father, Hohenheim, and Roy wouldn't shut up about it. That's why he got stabbed like that."

Riza gave an exasperated sigh. True, he was a very reckless man, but she didn't think he'd just go and taunt an angry and deadly killer just because he felt like seeing the look on his face. That's something he usually saved for Edward.

"So, how's he doing?" Maes asked after a while.

"Well, the bleeding's slowed, but it could be a while before it stops. I'll just have to keep pressure on it. You want me to bandage your arm?" she asked, wiping blood from Roy's mouth.

"No, it's ok. Roy's worse, so he needs your help more right now. I'll be fine."

Haha, ok. So I really made this short, sorry! But as far as the conversation between Hughes and his wife, I couldn't think of exactly what she should say, so I thought 'forget it, it'll be one ended from Riza's POV' sorta thing...ishness. Yeah... Anyways, please be patient for the next section, I haven't had too much time to write. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of wisdom;

Fermenting socks, which remain under the bed for months can be used to protect oneself from nuclear weapons.


	21. 21: Guilt

OK, here's 21. I'm oh so very sorry that I haven't updated lately, I haven't had time! In fact, I've been getting out a lot more often than I had expected to this summer, although I still don't have a job. So I haven't had too much time to write, but I have been getting started again. This section here is really different, for me anyways. When I wrote this part, it came to me at a time when there was a lot of stress in my life and I couldn't deal with it and my friend was like 'put it in writing, stupid!' So I did. I tried to fit it so that it makes sense. Hope it does! Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

When Roy Mustang woke up, it was still dark. He shifted his head a little and discovered he was laying upon a couch. Next to his head, leaning against the arm of the couch, he could faintly make out Maes' figure. Turning his attention to the ceiling, Roy tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his abdomen protested, and he gave up the effort. A quiet realization of what had occurred came to him, and his mind filled with the images of the event. He tried lifting his arm to his head, but there was a weight on it that prevented him from doing so. He looked to his arm and found Riza's head laying upon it, her right hand pressing a towel to his stomach.

"I'm in Riza's house?" Roy whispered to himself.

Roy's question was answered with a yip from Hayate, who magically appeared on Roy's legs.

"Hey there, Hayate," Roy said with a weak smile.

He felt the urge to pet the dog, but thought otherwise, as calling him within reach would force the pup to walk upon his wounded abdomen, and the pain was already unbearable. He struggled not to scream and took deep breaths. Next to him, a Riza let out a moan, and she lifted her head to gaze at Roy. He could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She must've been taking care of him for a very long time, and the stress of his being injured seemed to have worn her out.

"Roy?" she whispered, careful not to wake Maes. "You're awake? How're you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a train," Roy said with a weak laugh.

She laughed a bit as well, but it was a nervous, and even frightened laugh. How could Roy sound so carefree? Why was there humor in his voice? Didn't he have any idea how close to death he'd been? He'd lost a lot of blood in the interval from when he was stabbed to when he arrived at Riza's house. Yet here he was, laughing, which of course didn't help him any, as the contractions of his diaphragm were too strong, and sent a wave of pain washing over him. As soon as his laugh began, it ceased and was replaced by a sharp intake of breath. He grabbed his wounded abdomen, upon which Riza's hand was still clasped, and groaned.

"Roy--" Riza said fearfully. Her face turned slightly red when she felt his hand grip hers, but right now, her expression, seen very faintly in the dark living room, was that of pure concern.

For a while, Roy didn't respond. The pain was almost unbearable, and he felt as though he might slip into unconsciousness again. He tightly clutched her hand, willing himself to remain alert. He was surprised, however, that when he tightened his grasp upon her graceful hand, she didn't recoil, gasp, or attempt to loosen the death grip. She just twisted her hand around ever so slightly so that she could hold his hand just as strongly.

"It's ok, Roy. I'm here for you. No matter what," she whispered.

Slowly, he nodded. He wasn't sure if she could see it, but he nodded anyways. It was more to assure himself that he believed her and trusted her than to assure her. He lifted his head slightly to look at her. He had to struggle to do so however, as his head felt like a lead weight. When he finally had his head raised, his heart sank; Riza's face was staring at his hand, hair disheveled and tears slowly trailing down her cheeks. He felt horrible. He was the cause of her pain. If he had just seen the attack from Envy coming, been able to dodge it, this wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have had to be dragged by his already injured friend. He wouldn't have bled all over Riza's couch, and she wouldn't be crying. It was all his fault that she felt this way. Slowly, he lifted the hand Riza had been sleeping on and rested it on her cheek. She blinked and looked at him.

"It's ok, Riza," he said quietly. "Don't cry, I'll be fine."

"I-I know you wi-will, R-R--" she said, and finally unable to hold it in any longer, gave in to her sobs, resting her head upon his chest.

With this, Roy became deeply saddened. Now he had made her cry like this. What kind of person was he? He slowly moved his hand to her hair and stroked it, whispering to her to quiet down, that it was ok. She merely clutched the flesh of his chest, which he finally realized was bare, and sobbed harder. He felt hot tears drip onto and down his chest, and felt her shuddering breaths collide with his skin. The feeling was so strange, and it made him shiver, but he didn't want her to stop merely because it made him slightly uncomfortable. So he continued to stroke her hair and whispering to her in an attempt to calm her down.

He himself felt so powerless. How was it that he could be so strong at work, and not have the strength to help the person he cared about most in the world? _It's because that 'strength' you have at work is fake, and inside, you're screaming,_ a voice in his head told him. Yes, he supposed that was true. Of course he had to be strong and unfeeling at work; it's not like he could let his subordinates see him crying or emotionally unstable. So every day, he had to build a wall around his heart, one that couldn't be easily broken, so that no one would know how tormented he really was. But here, in Riza's living room, he felt so weak and powerless, unable to help her. Why couldn't he do anything to help her?

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, now shuddering himself.

She was quiet for a moment, then looked up at him ever so slightly.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"For what?"

"For... for doing this to you. For making you feel this way. For worrying you. Everything. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry, Riza."

"No, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault you got hurt," she protested.

"No. It _is_ my fault. I kept taunting him. I made him angry. Not only that, I couldn't help Maes. I've bled all over your couch, and I made you cry. That's not fair. I'm so sorry," Roy said, his words pouring out in a rush.

"Don't say that, Roy," Riza said, caressing his cheek with the hand that had previously gripped his chest. "Please don't. It's not your fault. Things happen, and you can't always stop them from happening. There's no reason to blame yourself. No one blames you. No one but yourself. And unless someone else blames you for what did or didn't do, there's no reason to feel guilty."

"But... there was nothing I could do for Maes. I let him get hurt."

"The homunculus had you by the neck! What _could_ you have done?"

"I... I don't know. But something! _Anything!_ But I didn't. I was too weak."

The immediate reaction of his care giver was a slap to his face. He gasped and looked at her with a look of fear, sadness, and confusion playing on his face.

"Don't you ever, _ever_, say that again," Riza threatened with a sad but deadly tone. Tears were streaming down her cheeks again and her voice was shaking. "Do you understand me? I never want to hear those words pass your lips again. Roy, you're not weak. You're the strongest person I know. You've dealt with the killing of those innocent people and all the sins you committed in Ishbal for so many years without a word to another person. It's tormented and eaten you alive, yet all you did was smirk and be confident. I don't know_ how_ you could've done that for so many years without falling apart sooner.

"Now you listen to me, Roy. You're not weak, and you never have been. Not ever. And there was nothing you could do to prevent the situation. It happened, and it's in the past. Move on with your life, and forget the guilt. Because there's nothing to feel guilty about. Do you hear anyone blaming you, saying how ashamed they are? No. There is nothing wrong with not being able to help all the time. Got it? And one more thing. Now, you don't have to keep this all hidden inside, ok? Because now, you're not alone, and you won't ever be alone again."

Slowly, Roy nodded, his obsidian eyes clouded with shame, fear, and guilt. Then his vision blurred, and hot tears escaped his eyelids. They cascaded down his cheeks in an unstoppable waterfall, streamed down his neck and gathered in a small pool where his collar bones came together. Reflexively, he moved his free hand to his face, covering his eyes. He shuddered fiercely, and heart-wrenching sobs ripped themselves from his throat. Realization washed over him as Riza's words really sank in, and his sobs were partially contributed to joy. Never had anyone told him these things, and for the person he loved to tell him that, he was grateful.

Suddenly, warm, graceful hands enveloped his cheeks, then moved up his face to massage his temples. Roy removed his hand from his face and blinked away tears, though it didn't help, as they kept coming, to see Riza gazing into his dark eyes with a warm, loving smile upon her face. He smiled at her through his tears as his vision became dark and clouded once more.

"Thank you, Riza," Roy said before slipping back under the veil of unconsciousness.

* * *

And there you have it. This section is kinda short, but it's longer than the last one, and for me, that's a good thing. Long chapters allow me to get really in depth and stuff, if that makes sense. But this part's kinda sad, ne? I think so, and it's actually part of a different conversation I once had. Which part? You'll never know! Ahahahaha! Anyways, I've started working on the next chapter, and I don't know how long it'll be or how long it'll take to write it, but it IS coming. I promise! Well, I hope I get a lot of reviews for this one, I wanna see how people feel about this chapter. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of wisdom;

The eyebrows of Rock Lee and Master Gai (from Naruto) are so incredibly large that they can be used as floatation devices. Please use them to save your drowning children.


	22. Chapter 22

Ok well, this section took a little longer than expected. Sorry it's so short, but I kept getting stuck. But this morning, I decided I'd better get going and push through the writer's block, mostly because I've been threatened by a close friend to write a lot while she's off on vacation. I promised her I would, and she's expecting at least nine pages for both this story and Kyoudai! So I've gotta get crackin', as she'll be back somewhere around mid-August. So, I've gotta get the gears turning. As for this section, it's kinda...scary and sad. I read it over once and I was like, "Wow, Roy's scary like this!" Haha, anyways, hope you enjoy.

* * *

After Roy had given into to the darkness of unconsciousness once again, Riza heaved a sigh and sat up straight, leaning against the couch. Hayate chuffed and jumped off of Roy's legs and onto hers, where he received a hug, a kiss to the nose and bountiful cuddles. The pup gave his own sigh and lay upon his master's lap as she continued to pet him. 

Riza's mind was whirling. Everything that had occurred in the past few days was almost too much to take on at once, and now that she learned what Roy really felt about the incident, and hearing him blame himself, it was almost unbearable. She felt that at any minute now, her head would explode, because she wouldn't be able to carry his burden along with her own. But she had to. She had to stay strong for him, it didn't matter what she felt personally; she could not let her emotions get in the way of helping him the best way she could.

"So, he really feels that way," Maes voice said suddenly.

"Y-you mean you heard?" Riza asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I woke up somewhere around, 'getting hit by a train.' But I didn't want to get in the way of your conversation, so I didn't say anything."

"You should have! If you had said something when he blamed himself for your injury, you could've knocked some sense into him!"

"Please, he still would have argued with me. It was the same when he came back from Ishbal..."

Flashback

_He heaved a small sigh as he gazed out the window, watching the lightning as it razed the night sky, lighting it up as though it were a white hot flame. He watched as cars crept down the streets of the rain swept world, as the winds pushed against the massive vehicles, such that going to fast might cause the car to spin. He began to wonder if the power would indeed go out, as the radio said it would. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door and he walked over to it with a slight wariness._

"_Who could that possibly be in this kind of weather?" he pondered aloud._

_Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw standing on his doorstep that night._

_Before him stood his old time friend, drenched in rain, still dressed in military garb, which was tattered and torn. Dirt and sand clung to him like hungry leeches, despite the rain. Slung over his right shoulder was a small bag, which was also tattered and dirty, although it was not just sand and dirt that covered it. But what haunted Maes Hughes most at that moment, was his friend's eyes, which were no longer the bright obsidian he had always seen, but dull and haunted._

"_Roy! You're back! I didn't know you'd be back today! Come in, come in!" Maes said, faking his cheerfulness. True, he was happy to see his friend, alive and safe, but he was scared of the Major's demeanor._

_Maes gleefully grabbed Roy's hand, which tensed immediately and the troubled man's eyes grew wide with apprehension. Maes then noticed that his friend had his gloves on still, and his right one had dropped the bag and was ready to snap. Slowly, he let go of his friend's other hand and looked down._

"_Come on in, Roy. It's ok," he said quietly._

_Roy nodded, picked up his bag, and trudged into the house, stopping just far enough so that the door could be closed. And when it did close with a soft _click_, he nearly jumped three feet into the air. Maes wanted to assure his friend with a steadied hand upon the shoulder, but he resisted the urge, as he didn't want to provoke Roy into snapping his gloved fingers. _

_Looking closer, Hughes could see that it wasn't sand and dirt that clung to him, but blood. The dirt had undoubtedly washed off, thrown from its sanctuary when the rain had pummeled the man's clothing. But the blood had stubbornly clung on, and no doubt had stained his clothes long ago._

"_You can sit on the couch, you know" Maes said._

_Without a word or even a nod, Roy tiredly moved himself across the room to the sofa, where he sat down heavily, as though unable to carry his weight any longer._

"_Want some whiskey?" Maes asked, standing next to the man._

_Silence. Roy merely stared off into the distance, the bags under his eyes becoming more noticeable. When Maes waved a quiet hand in front of his eyes to attract his gaze, the man tensed again but still did not speak. With a sigh, Maes walked quietly into kitchen and returned minutes later with two glasses and a bottle of whiskey, sitting down next to his friend and pouring for them both. He set one glass in front of Roy and took a sip of his. Roy lifted his glass and stared at it._

"_What happened to you, Roy?" Maes asked, not bothering to mask his concern._

"_This...is whiskey," Roy said quietly._

"_Well, of course it is. Did you want something else? I've got wine, beer, sco–" Maes suggested as he set his glass down._

"_We're not allowed to have whiskey. If we get drunk on duty, we won't be able to fight effectively. They'll court martial us. They might kill us. How did you get whiskey?"_

"_Roy, you're not in Ishbal anymore! You're home! Understand? HOME!" Maes screamed as he grabbed his friend by the shoulders._

_Roy's eyes widened again, and he dropped his glass, hands up reflexively to snap. The glass shattered upon the floor, spilling its contents to the floor with a _crash._ Testing his luck, Maes continued to grip his friend, glaring at him, staring into those dulled eyes._

"_You're home, Roy. Ok? You're home," he repeated._

_For a moment, those dull eyes became bright and aware again, and Roy looked at him fearfully, before throwing his arms around him and sobbing. Maes was taken aback by this action, but after a moment, he embraced his friend as well._

"_What did Ishbal do to you?" Maes asked._

"_I-I'm a murderer Maes," Roy said quietly._

"_What?"_

"_So many people ,men, women, children; it didn't matter, they all died. They all burned. Entire sections of the city, innocents and rebels alike, all charred, reduced to masses of burnt flesh. All because of me."_

"_You were following orders, Roy. It wasn't your fault."_

"_Yes it was. I could've refused. Maes, I killed two doctors. They had a picture of a little girl in their hands. They weren't doing anything wrong. Just being doctors. Healing anyone who came their way, rebel or military. And I killed them."_

"_..."_

"_I couldn't believe what I'd done after I'd done it. I wanted to die. But I couldn't do it. I had the gun to my head and everything. But I still couldn't. No matter how disgusted with myself I was, I still couldn't pull the trigger. Ever since then, there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I wonder if I should've pulled it."_

"_...It's a good thing you didn't. It would've been a waste of a good life," Maes said quietly._

"_..."_

"_Roy, I know you feel bad, but you already made that mistake, and there's nothing you can do to change that. What you can do is make sure you don't do it again, and try to change the world so that nothing like Ishbal ever happens again."_

_Roy slowly nodded. Maes let him go and picked up the fallen glass, and brought it into the kitchen. He returned with a new glass, filled it and held it in front of Roy with a smile._

"_Now, relax and have a drink. You're home, and that's cause for celebration."_

_Both men drank heavily that night, enjoying each other's company, the way they used to before Ishbal. Everything was almost the way it used to be, except that haunted look never truly left Roy's eyes, and whenever there was a sudden sound, Roy would always tense, although he had gotten out of the habit of reflexively shooting his hand up, ready to snap. That night, and for many more nights that followed, Roy slept with his gloves on._

End Flashback

Riza looked solemnly down at Hayate as she moved her hand over his sleek black coat. Her hair, still disheveled from sitting next to Roy for a few days and caring for him, fell in large unkempt tufts around her graceful but tired face, shielding her expression from Maes. While he told her what Roy was like when he came home from Ishbal, his gaze was directed towards the ceiling, although he seemed to be looking miles away. Now he looked to her, imagining the look of sorrow that placed itself upon her delicate face. He wanted to say something, anything, but his mouth would no longer move.

"How's your arm?" she asked suddenly.

"What? Oh, it's doing ok. You cleaned it and everything the other night, so it's doing alright. I'll just have to be careful when I use it."

"Shouldn't you go home to Gracia? She must be worried after all," Riza said quietly.

"Yeah. You're right. Sure you'll be able to take care of Roy all by yourself?"

"Yes. He's doing a lot better, so I think he'll be fine after a little rest. Just make sure you take good care of that arm, ok?"

"Will do," Maes said getting up and walking to the door. He opened it and started to leave but turned around to look at Riza with a gentle smile. "And Riza? Make sure you get some rest too, ok?"

She nodded.

"Good. Thanks for everything," he said, and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

* * *

I know, I know. Roy's Ishbal experience is often portrayed by many writers, and a lot sound the same, including mine. Sorry! But I thought about it and wrote it and rewrote it and this is how it came out. If the flashback is very very similar to other 'Ishbalan accounts' out there, written by any of you, I'm really sorry! I tried not to make it similar, and it seems that way to me, but I can't fix it. I'm not copying you guys, I swear! 

Ok, onto something else...I got really stuck after the flashback, which is why it's so short. So I'm sorry about that too. I really intended for this section to be longer, but my imagination didn't like me. ;; So anyways, yeah... I'll try to update quick, so I can meet my friend's quota. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of wisdom;

Ed: Hey Roy, I found this ring, what do you make of it?

Roy: little Armstrong sparkle thingy I'm sorry Fullmetal. I cannot accept a gift like this from another man.

From FullMetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir; the game, chapter 3

(Ok, it's not really wisdom, but it's still funny)


	23. Chapter 23

Ok, I've been sorta on my own lately, since my friend went on vacation, so I've had a lot of time to write. Plus, there's that quota she asked me to meet, so I'm trying to do that. But I'm sorry about how short this section is. I had to give some sort of transition for the bar incident thing, so here it is. I actually printed out this whole story, and so far, it comes to about 54 pages total. That includes everything I've written _past_ this part as well and have yet to post. It's really surprising really, I never expected it to end up this long, but I'm happy. Yay. Anyways, I'm still working on the next section, so bear with me please! Enjoy this in the meantime.

* * *

"Dammit, Lust. Why'd you stop me? The only good way to get information is to force it out of 'em. Don't you know that by now?" Envy spat as he paced the cave that served as the homunculus hideout.

"You would've killed him if I hadn't stopped you," Lust said annoyedly, holding up her head with her hand.

"So what? Who cares about him anyways?"

"It's not a matter of caring about him, it's a matter of caring about what information he has. He knows where we can find a complete Stone."

"How the hell do you know that?" Envy stopped pacing to look at her with a puzzled but skeptical look.

"In Ishbal, he met someone who told him of the location of a complete Philosopher's Stone, but something happened, and he forgot somehow. If we can force him to remember, we can get our hands on it," she said with a coy smile.

"Really now?" he said, walking towards her. He stopped three feet from her and cocked his head to the side. "And how do you suppose you get the information to come back to him?"

"The book of course. There's clues in there, the ones that Sloth found in her individual research. Originally, the book was called 'Intertwining Sins,' written by a poor Ishbalan author before the war, who claimed to see the future. When it was found, it was brought to our attention by Sloth, who heard of the book by Riza Hawkeye. Sloth procured a copy, rewrote it, adding necessary hints and clues for Mustang, and gave two copies to Riza, saying they were found in a Ishbalan home after the war. With the clues given in the book, Mustang should remember the location of the Stone."

"Ok, one thing wrong with that. He won't even read the damn thing," Envy pointed out. "I've been watching him like you said, and whenever he starts to read it, he gets overwhelmed or scared or something and stops a minute or so later. So it's pointless. Just force it out of him."

"He'll read it," Lust said with a smile.

"Yeah. Good luck with that," Envy scoffed, walking the length of the cave again. "And what happens after he remembers and we get the information?"

"We'll check if it's valid. If it is, we'll take the Stone, and kill him."

"Can I eat him when we get the Stone?" Gluttony's voice said from next to Lust as he clumsily oozed from the shadows.

"Sure. I don't really care," Lust said. "Honestly, Gluttony, can't you think of anything else besides food?"

A long, low growl sounded from Gluttony's gut.

"Guess not," Lust said with a tired sigh.

"And if the lead he gives us is false?" Envy said after a minute.

Lust looked towards the ceiling of the cave as though it held something interesting. She tapped her finger thoughtfully to her chin and sighed again.

"I suppose we'll kill him anyways," she said finally.

"Hmph," Envy grunted. "So now what?"

"So now I want you to watch him some more. Give Mr. Mustang a reason to read the book."

"Dammit, why do I always have to do the dirty work?"

"Because I told you to, now go," she ordered.

"Whatever," Envy said walking towards the cave's opening.

"And Envy," Lust called out to him.

"What the hell you want now!" he demanded, spinning around with a glare.

"Don't kill him."

"Yeah yeah," he said and walked out.

* * *

Ahhhh, alas, part two of my plot twist is finally revealed! Ahahaha! Honestly, I'm not too sure how I'm gonna have Roy deal with this information, but I'll think of something. Maybe Ed and Al will come along and...I dunno, swing dance or...come wearing clown suits. Not only that, I gotta find something humorous to throw in...somewhere. So please, be patient with me, and ideas for Roy's reaction to this news, or how he'll find out about it for that matter, are welcome. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of wisdom;

If you're as late as Kakashi, (from Naruto), which can be anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours or more, be sure to use the ultimate excuse; 'I got lost.' This'll work even if accused of knowing the area well, and this accusation is true, as even the most knowledgeable man can get lost when reading dirty magazines. (Haha, just because Kakashi-san reads Make-out Paradise! XD)


	24. 24:Memories

Yay! This section is finally up. I was planning on giving it to you guys in pieces, but I figured it would be too broken to make sense...and you guys might kill me. So I decided to wait. Surprisingly, this section came relatively easily to me, and I wrote most of it in a matter of a few hours. It usually takes me a little longer; it depends on the inspiration, the arrangement of ideas, y'know all that fancy stuff. But I promised you guys a longer section, so I gave you one, granted, it's not twenty pages long, like with Roy and Riza hanging out at her house, but it's still bigger than some chapters. In fact, this part takes up roughly 4-ish pages on my computer. But I gotta say, I've met my quota! I think. Rii-chan was sorta vague when she gave me my 'assignment.' Wish I knew exactly what she asked. Darn my evil memory and lack thereof. Anyways, enough of the rambling, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

"Damn that Lust, acting like she's my freaking mother or something," Envy mumbled as he walked down the path that led from the cave to the city.

After a while, he wandered through the nearby park, watching as the night sky began to fade into light. He stopped in a clearing and flopped onto the soft, springy grass, gazing upwards as the stars desperately tried to remain bright, but the light of the soon-to-be-rising sun would drown the dim illumination soon enough. He watched as the moon sank below the trees that surrounded him. True, daylight was on its way, but it would still be an hour or so before the sun fully shed its light upon the sleeping city. Shadows still crowded around him and under the trees, making the forest around the clearing seem menacing and foreboding.

Envy heaved an almost nostalgic sigh as he brushed a few strands of his dark green locks from his face. His blue eyes narrowed as he watched a few bats flutter around in the remaining darkness, trying to find food. The sight caused a rare smile to creep upon his face. It was odd, but in a way, he felt he could relate to the bats. In order to survive through the daylight hours, these creatures had to frantically, and somewhat clumsily, fly through the night air, desperately trying to feed their hungry little stomachs. Envy felt desperate sometimes too, to feed a different kind of hunger. A hunger he'd had for more than four hundred years now. At times, he felt like he was at the breaking point, like he couldn't take it anymore.

"The rest of them don't know how lucky they are," Envy said to the bats. He heaved another sigh. "The others are all fairly content. But they don't have to deal with this pain that I do. They don't know what that bastard did to me. What he continues to do to me."

Of course, it was well known that Envy was the oldest of the homunculi, despite his appearance. He was the first one created, and that was nearly four hundred years ago. Not that his superior age gave him any charge over the others. This was due to the obvious reason that he was not as mature as his age implied. He really didn't care though. He didn't want to have all that responsibility and end up like Sloth or Pride or even Lust, who didn't have any fun at all. In fact, he really did like who he was, and he didn't give a damn if the others thought he was immature. What they called immaturity, he called fun.

"Maybe I'll just stay here a while," he said to himself.

A light wind blew and the grass swayed with it, as well as Envy's long green locks, the topmost tufts of hair falling over his face and chest. The grass tickled his flesh as the wind blew at it, and it sent a shiver up his spine. For some reason, it felt so good, and everything was serene and quiet. He felt like he could stay there for hours.

"Screw Lust," he said after the wind died away. "If she wants him to read the damn book, _she_ should make him, not me. I could give less of a damn if he never reads it. Being human does not concern me. It's better being a homunculus. If I became human, I'd have to give up my shape-shifting ability, and maybe even this beautiful body."

He laughed to himself. In the four hundred or so years that he'd been a homunculus, he'd gotten used to his body, even to the point where one could say he was vain. Truth be told, he liked this body better now. For one, he could have more fun, changing into any person he wanted, messing with people's minds and lives. And, due to the form he now had, he was much more agile, and his fighting skills had improved tremendously over the years. He had speed in combat that was unmatched by any human and agile, fluid moves that made him a difficult target. But for the green-haired homunculus, the biggest perk of existed as said being, besides the shape-shifting, was the lack of real death. Unless someone knew the secret behind the destruction of a homunculus, which not very many at all did, alchemist or not, he was practically immortal. Unless, that is, he was 'killed' enough times of course. But no one could damage him enough for it to classify as a 'death.' And no mortal man could ever 'kill' him, because his skills made that impossible. So Envy considered himself proudly immortal, and that meant he could live on forever, torturing people. But he also had to strive for a goal.

"_He has mercury poisoning. I'm sorry; he won't last much longer," a doctor said as he walked out to meet the boy's parents._

"_Mercury poisoning? But how?" said the boy's father._

"_In this day and age, mercury poisoning is actually quite common. Sometimes, some kid will find some somewhere and show his friends, or a traveling scientist will drop a vile of it. In either case Sir, I'm sure you're aware of how mercury reacts, being a scientist and all."_

"_Yes."_

"_Did you recently get new items for your research?"_

"_Yes, but I usually keep the door locked, except for once this morning. I just went to the bathroom and– oh no."_

_The boy remembered it perfectly. He was bored. It was raining outside and his mother had forbidden him to play outside, because she didn't want him to dirty his clothes. So he had wandered around the house, reading a book, when he found his father's lab door open. At first he thought he was hallucinating; that door was never open. But further investigation revealed that it was real, and the door was indeed ajar. He had always been curious as to what lay beyond it that interested his father so much for hours on end, and now he was going to find out. _

_He slipped through the crack between the door and walked down the steep wooden stairs to a dirt floor, which was crowded with books, papers, boxes, and test tubes. He walked amongst the items and saw a vile sealed tightly, with a shiny liquid in it. It was almost silver in color, but did not act like a liquid; in moved all together when he tilted the vile, instead of just some of it. Curious, he popped open the vile and poured it onto his hand, gazing at it, his blue eyes watching as it moved about when he moved his hand. Then he heard the last thing he wanted to hear; his father's voice coming close to the door. He dropped the liquid back in the vile and shut it, putting it back where he found it and looked at the door; no one was there yet. He crept up the stairs and peeked out the door to find his father talking with his mother in the next room. He slipped out of the door and down the hall to his room and started reading his book again. If his father found out he'd been in his lab, he'd kill him._

_It was a few hours later that he first started feeling funny. It was difficult to breathe, and things started to get blurry. When he complained of it to his mother, she checked him to find he had a high fever. Panicked, she rushed him to bed, put a hot cloth on his forehead and told his father to get the doctor._

_The boy now saw his father rush in, kneeling next to his bed with a concerned look painted upon his face._

"_Son, did you go into my lab and play with a shiny liquid?"_

"_Yes, Father. I'm s-sorry," the boy rasped out._

_He felt his father seize his head and hold it into his chest. The boy felt really weak, and he could barely feel his father's arms around him._

"_It'll be ok. I promise. Everything will be ok. Don't be afraid," his father said._

"_Ok," the boy said._

_The next thing the boy knew, he was on the floor of his father's lab, but something was different. For one, long, dark strands of hair covered parts of his face. But how could that be? His hair was blonde. His body was slimmer too, and his clothes were much tighter and form hugging. He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the light and found his father kneeling next to him._

"_F-father?" the boy asked. His voice was different too._

"_No. You are not my son," his father said simply._

_What? How could he possibly say that? He was his son. He was!_

"_Father, stop playing games," the boy said with a laugh._

"_I'm not playing games. You're not my son. You are a homunculus, and your name is..."_

Envy looked up at a bird that flitted through the early morning light. The sun had started to rise at last and the early morning birds had come out to find breakfast. Had he fallen asleep? Maybe, although he didn't remember closing his eyes. But...that dream. It'd been so long since he had that dream. He remembered what happened next.

In a rage, he had trashed his father's laboratory and punched a large hole in the wall. After a short and unsuccessful attempt to kill his father for what he'd said, he'd escaped through the hole and into the countryside, where he punched down trees and kicked holes in mountains and cliff faces. The anger that had consumed him was overwhelming, and he kept wondering why. Why did his father bring him from the grave and say he _wasn't_ his son?

"Why did you do it, you bastard?" Envy asked the early morning sky. "Why?"

The green haired homunculus was so concerned with his thoughts that he lay still enough for a fox to creep up to him with curiosity. He felt something cold and wet against his arm and tilted his head to look at the creature with a hint of wonder in his eyes. The fox, which turned out to be a pup of maybe seven months, looked up to the homunculus's face, it's amber eyes shining in the light.

"What're you doing?" he asked the pup.

The little fox gave a small yip as though to answer and jumped onto Envy's stomach. He gasped, and then gave a small smile to the pup, as he slowly moved a hand to pet it.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" he asked.

Surprisingly, the fox did not shirk away from the touch, instead it curled up onto his stomach, it's eyes watching him intently. Envy was taken aback by this action, as he knew foxes could be irritable, and did not take to people too well. So what was up with this one? He shrugged it off mentally though, and continued to gently run his fingers through its amazingly soft fur.

"How long has it been since I felt something like this?" he asked the pup.

The fox sighed and shut it's eyes as though to sleep, but the sound of footsteps behind the homunculus caused it to spring up onto it's feet and dart away. In apprehension, Envy sat up and whirled his head around to see it was Edward Elric who stood behind him with a death glare that could wipe out a whole nation if looks could kill.

"Oh, it's only you, Pipsqueak," Envy said looking to where the fox had gone. "Dammit, you scared him away. What's wrong with you?"

"What are you doing here, Envy?" Edward spat.

"Sitting, what's it look like?"

"Why?"

"Is there a law that says I can't?" the homunculus said, tilting his head towards the blonde-haired alchemist with a smirk.

"There should be. So just why the hell are you here anyways?" Edward demanded again.

"Because, Pipsqueak, I can. Aren't I allowed to just relax for a little while? I can't stand sitting in that cave all day, it's annoying. So I decided to come out here and relax. Got a problem with that?"

"Yes, I do. What are you plotting? I know there's something more to it."

"Well, sort of. I'm supposed to go watch your little Flame Alchemist for a while and make sure he reads the book, but I really could care less. Unlike the others, I don't want to be human. I want something else."

"And what's that?" Edward asked cautiously, preparing himself for attack.

Instead of answering, Envy stood and faced the Fullmetal chibi and smirked.

"Bet you'd like to know, huh?" he taunted.

This action received him a growl from the chibi alchemist. Envy strode over to him and casually put a hand around his shoulder, as though there were buddies. The blonde-haired boy pulled away from the homunculus, a look of apprehension and confusion painted upon his boyish features. Edward then slipped into a fighting stance, glaring at him.

"Awww, come on chibi-san," Envy said in a mock hurt voice. " Don't be like that. I'm just trying to relax a little, and here you are, ready to slit my throat. That's so mean. Maybe I should do the same to you when you're staring out the window with that silly spaced-out look, hmm?"

Edward said nothing.

"Or maybe," the green-haired homunculus tantalized. "Maybe I should kill your precious little brother while you're not looking, hmmm?"

"You stay the hell away from my brother!" the young alchemist spat as he charged towards his adversary.

Envy smirked as he watched the boy come at him. It was so funny how he continued to believe he could actually harm him. So when the chibi struck at him, he leapt over and behind him, landing on his feet. Before the teen could turn around, he landed a kick right in the middle of his back, which sent him flying into a tree, face-first. Edward recovered from this quickly however, and was soon charging towards the homunculus once again. This time, as an added bonus, Edward slapped his hands together and transmuted the plate on his automail arm to form his wrist-mounted blade. When he was within range, he slashed at Envy in calculated and precise attacks. Despite his skills, one or two hit him and several small red lines appeared on his skin. At first, he was fascinated by this, as he gazed at one that had appeared on his arm. But he didn't have time to admire this work, as the chibi came at him again.

This time, Envy dodged all of Edward's attacks, and slammed his fist into the blonde's face. This caused him to stagger sideways and finally fall over, clutching his injured cheek. He fixed his golden hues at Envy with another death glare. The homunculus just smirked; this was fun. He walked over to the fallen alchemist and lifted him up by his ever so convenient braid and commenced to kick him. Most of these hits hit the boy's stomach, and several times, the young one coughed up blood when Envy's foot connected. Eventually, Envy got bored and dropped the boy, who was most likely unconscious by now, but bent down so that he whisper in his ear.

"Next time you come to pick a fight with me, chibi-san, come more prepared; it'll be more fun."

And with that, he walked out of the clearing and into the woods, towards Roy's house, where he was supposed to be in the first place.

Edward did hear Envy's parting words, but was unable to reply, as darkness fell over his eyes, and he drifted under its veil.

* * *

Ok, Sorry if I spoiled a few things for those of you who don't know much about Envy. I haven't seen the whole series, but I know that he died of mercury poisoning and that his father refuses to consider him his son. Nice guy, ne? Anyways, that's what all of my sources say, so I'm sticking by it. Now, the question arises: "Ari, why did you dedicate an entire section to Envy in which he's all sappy and stuff?" The answer is simple. I can. Well, actually, I wondered what he would do if given the chance to actually sort through his hatred for his father. I mean, he's been holding it behind a veil of ignorance and all that for what? Four hundred years? Yeah, so that's gotta build up to the point where he can't stand it. So I gave him a thing to think about everything. There. I don't know how long the next section will be, but I promise I'll try and get it to you guys soon. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of wisdom;

Fighting requires rationality. Fighting single handedly against countless foes. Such foolishness will only wear you out before you're beaten senseless! Roy Mustang First FMA game: Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel, movie 12

The world isn't perfect. That's what makes it beautiful. Roy Mustang


	25. 25: Revealed

At last! A new chapter is ready. I apologize to those of you who were waiting for a long time, but I have to admit it to you right now; I went on vacation, and was therefore unable to write. Sorry. But I got back on Friday, and yesterday, I got bored and seized the computer somewhere around 5 or 6ish and started writing like mad. I had no idea I had this much inspiration, but it just kept coming, and in somewhere around an hour, I had written over a page. Sooooo...expect more soon, as long as I can besiege the computer. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Roy awoke again to the aroma of coffee being brewed and light jazz music. He tried to sit up, but it was still a little painful to do so, so he remained laying down. Hayate, as though with radar of people who could play with him bounced into the living room and stood on his hind legs next to the couch, his forepaws pressed against the bottom of the cushion. Roy smiled and pet him, earning him a playful bark and wag of the tail. Excited now, Hayate bounced into the kitchen, where Roy heard his paws skid on the wood floor and then the pup ran back into the living room, a small stuffed rabbit in his mouth. Roy looked at him, knowing the young pup wanted to play, but did not make a move to follow his lead. So after a few minutes when Hayate seemed to grow impatient, and growled while he wagged his tail and looked expectantly to the man, he took the rabbit in a stronger grip of his teeth and stood against the couch once again. Roy looked at him with a coy smile, and this earned him another growl. Finally, he moved his hand and took hold of the stuffed toy, wrestling it out of Hayate's mouth and throwing it across the room. The pup instantly broke into a run to chase it.

"So, you're awake," Riza's voice said. The sound of it relieved Roy; her voice held laughter again.

"Yes. And it seems your dog likes that idea very much," he said, bringing himself to sit despite the pain.

"You probably shouldn't move around yet," she suggested with a hint of worry in her tone.

"No, it's ok. It doesn't hurt too much. I'm fine."

Slowly, he stood and walked to Riza, nearly falling over several times, as he was a little dizzy now, and Hayate didn't help matters much by jumping onto his leg. When he finally got to her, he embraced her, putting his head over her shoulder and shutting his eyes, thankful to be able to feel her warmth again. For a while, he was afraid that he had lost too much blood, and that he was going to die, and he would never be able to hold her like this again. And during that time of unbearable pain due to the injury, he had had to lay in bed for countless hours, barely able to talk. But now he could hold her again, and he was grateful for that.

When she felt Roy's arms go around her, she gave a small gasp, but quickly returned the embrace, fighting the hot tears that came to her eyes. She had been so afraid that he wouldn't make it, and this had dashed her chance of sleep for several days. But now, she knew he would be ok.

"I'm sorry I worried you," Roy said quietly.

"Don't be sorry. It wasn't your fault," she scolded lightly.

"It was. And I'm so sorry. Really."

"..."

"How's Maes doing?" he asked suddenly. He had just recalled that his friend had been injured, too.

"He's doing fine. He went home yesterday," Riza replied distantly.

"Good. I should make it up to him. He carried me from the bar to here, with an injured arm no less. I've got to repay him somehow."

"I'm sure he would refuse payment of any kind. He really cares about you. You're so lucky to have someone that close to you who'll do anything for you."

"You have someone like that, too," he said quietly. "You have me."

She gasped and then held him tighter, tears coming from her eyes now. "Thank you."

A long silence followed as they stood in their embrace. Finally, Riza pulled away from him and guided him into the kitchen. Already set upon the table were two cups of steaming coffee, and there were various food items on the counter. She led him to a chair at the dining table in front of which sat one of the cups of coffee and then went to the counter where she busied herself with the preparation of the food.

"I bet you must be hungry," she said cracking five eggs and whipping them in a bowl.

"Yes, I am. But you don't have to go through the trouble– I can go home and make something," Roy protested, feeling the first effects of hunger.

"No, no. It's ok. Besides, with your wound and four days worth of an empty stomach, you probably wouldn't make it to your house, even with help."

She was right. He felt weak, partly because his abdomen was still in pain, and partly because he was ravenously hungry. But wait, didn't she just say that he had been asleep for four days?

"Four days?" he asked.

"Yes, that's right," she replied simply as she dumped the eggs into a heated frying pan, producing a hiss from it. He noticed there was also two other pans on the stove, and the smell of bacon became evident for the first time. Then, toast jumped from the confines of the toaster, and Riza shuffled over to it to butter them and place one on each plate. She then returned to the stove and tended to the eggs, bacon, and pancakes, which magically appeared in the third pan.

"But what about work?"

"I called in Monday and informed the office that you'd been gravely injured, and that I was taking care of you during your time of recovery. Lieutenant Havoc came by that morning to verify the claim and left, giving you his best wishes."

"Thanks. You are going to a lot of trouble to help me out, you don't have to, you know?"

"I know that, but you said yourself that you were going to become Fuhrer one day. And you have to be alive in order to climb the ranks," she said, putting the eggs and bacon on the plates. She turned and looked at him sternly. "And I will follow right behind you, every step of the way."

He nodded and gave her an affectionate smile. She was being so kind to him, at her own price of sleep deprivation. He could see it in her eyes, just how tired she was. He took a sip of the coffee and watched her while she finished the pancakes, and slipped them onto the plates. She puts the pans into the sink and carried the plates to the table, setting on in front of Roy and one in front of the empty chair next to him, at which she sat. Hayate followed the scent of food to the kitchen, sitting between the chairs and looking up expectantly at the two. When he didn't immediately receive food, he whined and Riza looked down at him and sighed, throwing a few scraps to the floor. Instantly, he darted to the discarded morsels and snatched them in his mouth, licking his lips before sitting back between the chairs.

"You're such a pig, Hayate," Riza commented with a laugh. "Be patient, you can have what I don't finish."

Roy chuckled and the two ate quietly for a while. Roy's stomach was delighted at the idea of food, and he couldn't get it into his mouth fast enough. It didn't help much that Riza's cooking was so good either, and his stomach wanted more, more and more. He controlled himself though, and ate like a gentleman, struggling not to wolf down his breakfast.

"You know, Roy, I was just thinking about the book," Riza said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" he asked before stuffing a section of pancake into his mouth.

"Well, it bears a striking similarity to a book I've read before. It's called 'Intertwining Sins,' and it was written before the Ishbal rebellion, by an author who was believed to be somewhat of a prophet. It was said that he could see the future, and portrayed it in his novels. 'Intertwining Sins' is supposed to be a prediction of what would happen in Ishbal, although it was written the year before it actually happened. Although, in 'The Sins that Bind Us,' there is mention of a location of something, although throughout the entire novel, the reader is never informed of the location. But other than that, the two books are surprisingly similar."

"Is that so? Hmm... perhaps there is a connection?" Roy pondered. "There could have been two authors who were believed to foresee the future, and maybe they both wrote a novel on the same thing."

"That could be true, I suppose. But 'The Sins that Bind Us is not in any book store I've seen. I've only seen the two copies, and despite where I look, there isn't one anywhere else."

"Where did you get them?"

"From the Fuhrer's secretary, Juliet Douglas," she replied, looking at him. "Why?"

He shook his head, thinking. "Where did she get them?"

"She never mentioned it, she just said that it was found in an Ishbalan home towards the end of the war."

"Something's not right here," he muttered ominously.

"You don't know that. Maybe it's just an extremely rare book," she contradicted.

"Maybe," he said as he finished his breakfast. He stood and smiled to her. "I should be heading home."

"But Roy, your wounds--"

"I'm ok. I have some things I have to take care of."

She nodded slowly and accompanied him to the door, Hayate in tow. Roy gathered his things and opened the door, but before he walked out, he turned around and pressed his lips tightly to hers in a strong and passionate kiss. She was surprised, but she slowly put her arms around him and returned the kiss. After a minute he pulled away, and they were gasping for air. He smiled and took a step backwards.

"Thank you, Riza, for everything. I'll see you tomorrow at work," he breathed.

"Yes, see you tomorrow. And take it easy, so that your wounds have a chance to heal," she said worriedly.

"I will. Don't worry."

And with that, he turned and walked out the door, stepping cautiously down the road, and turned the corner, out of Riza's sight.

* * *

Yeah, yeah. I know, this chapter is short. But I had to get Roy home so the fun could start! Gomen nasai if you feel this chapter was too short. Anyway, I've got big plans for the upcoming chapters, and to be honest, I have no idea how long this story will be. But I'm gonna work hard, and hopefully, I can get you some nice long chapters soon.

Now onto business. AHAHAHAHA! Alas, now Roy's suspicions are aroused, and he knows a little bit of the history behind the book, though not all. How will he react to this information once he's home? How will he find out the book's true history? Will he figure out that he's just a pawn? Will Ed ever get taller! The answer to these questions and more coming soon! But for the last question...no. Ed will never get taller, and is forever doomed to be short. horror music plays

Words of wisdom;

IfEnvy spins around fast enough, he can become the world's first palm tree helicopter.


	26. Chapter 26

Yay! Yet another chapter! I have to admit it though, this chapter has been written for well over two weeks or so now, but I actually didn't know if I wanted it to end that way, so when I came back to it this morning, I read over the last part and thought it was good enough to end this chapter there. I had originally planned to make it longer, but the ideas I had for it went splat. So, sorry for not updating when the thing _actually_ ended. But it's set and ready now.

I have to say, I'm surprised with this chapter, it's not too bad at all, and my favorite part of this chapter is Roy's little 'speech.' I have to also say though, that when I was writing for Envy-san, I got...scared of myself. That's because the terrible little descriptions of what he planned to do turned out to be really... how do I say this... devious and evil...and almost lifelike. When I read it over to proofread it, I saw the images in my mind, and it was like: Holy crud! I'm psychotic! Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy!

* * *

When Envy had traveled to Roy's house after meeting the pipsqueak in the park, he was a little surprised not to find the famous Flame Alchemist home. In fact, he was sure that his eyes were being traitorous and deceiving him, so he snuck in through an unlocked window and snooped around, only to find that his eyes were correct, and the alchemist was not home. So he had continued to roam the house, although with less of a purpose except to examine it. It was such a cozy place, and it made him sick. The Flame Alchemist was supposed to be a cold man, especially in battle, yet his home was brightly furnished and comfortably painted, with pictures of him and his friend Maes on the walls and desks, and other works strewn about.

Sluggishly, the green-haired homunculus stepped into what looked like the man's study, to see artwork leaning against the wall, and some on the floor. There was one in progress, laying carefully upon a table. Taking a closer look of the long, crisp paper revealed an unfinished picture of his first lieutenant. The head and hair was finished, down for a change and blowing in a wind felt only by the penciled presence. The portrait continued down her slender neck and across delicate collarbones where it stopped midway to the shoulders, where Roy apparently had come to a dead end. But the face was drawn with extreme care and attention to detail, and Envy smirked, touching a slender digit to the paper and running it along the curve of the face. It looked so lifelike, and he could almost imagine himself with her, and could almost feel her blood on his hands.

He wanted to kill her. That was all there was to it. He wanted her dead. By his hands. But he wasn't allowed to take her life. Not yet. She was supposed to help Roy find the Stone, and then he could do whatever he wanted to both of them. He supposed he would kill Roy's lover right in front of his eyes, so that he could watch her blood, beautiful, silky and crimson, pour out of her in a stream. And he would watch the man break down as he was allowed to caress her cold limp body, and cry out to her in vain. He wanted to see the man, rumored to be the one of the coldest in the military become helpless, scared and lost. He wanted to hear him beg for death so as to be with her, to see him struggle to take his own life, but never be able to, until finally, Envy had his fill of his pain, and killed him too. Or maybe he would do it the other way around, and kill Roy first. Either way, he would relish in their pain, their frantic screams to each other, and when one of them had died, the other would cry, and plead with their God, desperately trying to make a deal with Him, so that their love could live on.

Soon, his fantasies began to bore him, and make him desire bloodshed even more, so he continued to walk around the house and found the book that Roy was supposed to read. He picked it up to look at how far he'd gotten, and seen that he wasn't even halfway there. He sighed, figuring this job would never end, and moved the book to a more convenient place; a table next to the couch. He figured that since it had to be one of the first things the alchemist saw when he walked in the door was the table, being that it was practically right in front of the entranceway.

After that, he decided to go find where the bastard was, so he slipped back out the window and shut it, and leapt into the trees, running from branch to branch of those along the road. He figured he was still at Riza's house, resting. Why did humans have to take so damn long to heal their wounds? It was ridiculous.

As he was darting among the trees, he spotted the Flame Alchemist walking down the road, in the direction of his house. Envy immediately stopped in his tracks and peered down. The man was staggering a little, which meant that his wounds had not healed thoroughly, yet he was still walking home. The homunculus smirked, imagining playing 'death from above' and killing the man in an instant. He wouldn't know what hit him. But alas, he could only watch and wait right now. How terribly dull.

The homunculus followed him silently through the leaves and branches. It became irritating, because the man walked far too damn slow for his liking. He'd have liked to push the man, or scare him so that at least he'd go faster. But he had to try to be patient. And he hated being patient. Every now and then, the alchemist stopped and gazed around at things, and Envy froze, each time thinking maybe he'd maybe made too much noise and had been caught. But each time he stopped, Roy only gazed around at the scenery, smiled and walked on. It was amazingly annoying, and Envy had to constantly resist the urge to kill him.

After an agonizing twenty minutes, Roy finally reached his house and walked in. Envy stopped in a tree that allowed him view through a window that revealed the entranceway. The alchemist stepped in the door and shook off his shoes and tossed his coat to the floor.

He looked to the side, and saw the book sitting on the table by the couch.

"Didn't I leave that in the study?" he asked the empty house.

"No, you didn't. Just pick it up and read it dammit," Envy hissed. His voice was calm, but a dark tone slithered into it and laced it with venom.

The alchemist picked up the book and flipped through it, as though expecting someone to have left something in the book, but there was nothing. Tiredly, he moved to the couch and flopped down, leafing through the book a few times, but never stopping through the pages to read it.

"C'mon. Read it, dammit. Read it so Lust can stop nagging me," he prompted in a whisper to the window.

Finally, after flipping through the pages for a while, Roy searched for the page where he had put his bookmark and stopped, gazing at the page for a minute.

_Should I really read it?_ he thought.

His pause made Envy even more agitated. He wanted to burst through the window and grab the man by the neck and press his eyes to the page, and force him to read. But then again, he was to have no direct involvement after all. He was just supposed to manipulate from the shadows and hope for the best. If that didn't work, _then_ he could take more direct action. But this was getting boring, and he wanted to do something much more exciting. He could've, if he really wanted to, but then Lust would nag him even more, and if there was one thing hated almost as much as he hated the Fullmetal Pipsqueak, (who was just behind that bastard Hohenheim) it was her nagging him all the time. Time and time again, he wanted to tell her where to shove it, but he knew that bastard was watching, always watching, and he would punish him if he said something like that, if he didn't follow orders.

His thoughts were interrupted by Roy's voice coming from inside the house. He listened quietly in the hopes he was reading aloud to himself.

"– Wonder what it is that this book talks about the location of... Riza said the location was never revealed. Do they even mention what it is the person is looking for? Guess the only way to find out is to read it..."

Yes! Finally he was going to read the book! Took him long enough.

_The next day brought the promised raid. Richard awoke early that morning, before everyone else and asked the stars millions of questions. He wanted to know why the war was started. He wondered if this all would really benefit the country. He pleaded with them to tell him if he was ever going to be forgiven of killing those two that shouldn't have died by his hands._

_Of course, there was no answer from the bright beings that hovered over the Earth. To him, it seemed as though they were looking down at him, scornfully, and he wondered if the heavens were hating him right now. He couldn't blame the stars if they hated him. He hated himself too. He didn't want to have to live day by day if all it meant was that he would have to kill more innocent people._

"_I'm sorry!" he screamed to the inky night sky and to the balls of light above him. "I'm so sorry! I didn't want to kill them! I was following orders. Please. Please forgive me."_

_With that, he fell to the ground and wept on his hands and knees, hot tears dripping from his nose and onto the ground, disappearing into the sand. The sand. The thing that invaded everything. The tents, the barracks, clothes, food, water. One could not get away from it, and it followed the soldiers around, recording everything it witnessed, and reminded them of it at night, taunting them with memories of death and despair. _

_After a while, he ceased his crying and sat on the ground, hugging his knees close to his chest and watched the fires burning a part of the city in the distance. Fires that he had started. He could almost hear the screams of the woman and children as their husbands, brothers, and fathers herded them to a safe area. He thought he heard their cries as their attempt at salvation was thwarted as the night patrol squad found them and stopped in their tracks. He definitely heard the gunshots. That sound was unmistakable. He shivered at that sound, memories flashing in front of him like a broken movie reel._

_Just as the sun was about to start rising, he heard the morning whistle. It signaled that all the soldiers had to get up and get ready. More importantly, to Richard, it meant that he had to prepare himself, mentally and physically, for the raid, in which he would have to kill more innocent people._

_Slowly, he made his way back to the camp, and into his Brad Gorna's command tent. He walked up to the desk and saluted and then stood at attention._

"_You look tired," Gorna commented after he returned the salute and sat down in his chair._

"_I slept well, Sir. Just a little weary about this mission is all," he said carefully. In reality, he hadn't slept so well at all, as memories of screams and charred bodies filled his mind. He had tossed and turned the entire night, although he recalled a short dream that he had had after finally drifting into sleep. It was a terrifying dream that caused him to wake up in a cold sweat and had driven him outside in the first place._

"_I see. Well, you're going to have to get over it, Madison. This is war, and you can't let sentiments get in the way of duty," Gorna said sternly._

"_Yes, Colonel."_

"_Alright. You're going to lead the squad. You are to invade the west sector and destroy anything that moves and doesn't have a military uniform. Is that understood?"_

"_Yes Sir."_

"_Good. Move out."_

"_Sir!" Richard said with a salute. He then pivoted one hundred eighty degrees and walked out of the tent, his heart sinking with realization of his orders._

_His squad eagerly awaited his arrival when he stepped out of the tent and cheered at his emergence. As he marched to the front of the squad, he was followed with jeering and pats on the back. Once he reached its front and turned, he saw a young private, no older than twenty grinning at him._

"_We're gonna show those rebels who's boss today, right Major?" the private said excitedly._

"_Yes, Private," he said, forcing a smile. He then cleared his throat and pivoted so that he faced what remained of the city. "Alright! Let's move out!"_

_This received him more cheers and he solemnly stepped forward, all his loyal followers in tow._

_The raid went as planned. The soldiers, led by their strong and brave Major stormed the west side of the city and killed all those without a uniform. Richard himself had to storm a building, in which he found a teenage boy with a rifle, defending an older woman and a child. His heart skipped a few beats and his breath seemed to escape him. He stood there, at the ready, hesitant, unsure, just as the boy did. The rifle in his hands shook as he struggled to raise it against the military officer before him. The boys eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty, and Madison felt like he could see himself in the boy's eyes. _

_They stood off for long minutes, neither making a move, just staring each other in the eyes. Then, as the boy got up his courage, he raised the rifle so that it pointed towards Richard, but the boy shut his eyes in fear and squeezed the trigger._

_The shot from the boy's rifle never came. In an instant, he was dead, the whole building up in flames, just because Richard's reflexes were better than his. He could hear the screams of the woman and child as they, too, were killed. He walked solemnly out of the building, his mind pleading with the heavens to have a rebel kill him now; that he didn't want to do this anymore. But that relief never came, and during that raid, he had killed more than twenty-seven people, most of which were defenseless women and children. _

_As he and his men marched back to the camp, the west sector of the city behind them in flames, his heart was slowly sinking in his chest, as though it had become a lead weight. What made it worse was that his squad behind him was cheering and bragging about the amount of people they had killed. All except him and the Private who had been so eager before. He walked side by side with the Major, his head towards the ground, eyes melancholy and haunted. Richard looked at him with his own haunted eyes and saw the boy's expression, and his heart sank another few inches._

"_You were so eager before...why the look?" he asked quietly._

"_I never imagined that I'd have to kill women and children. They were so young, Major. Infants, little girls, mothers. They couldn't defend themselves. And I killed them all. Their screams still taunt my ears," the Private said quietly._

_Richard nodded and put a hand on the boy's shoulder._

"_I know. But we have no choice. How old are you anyways?"_

"_Nineteen, Sir," he replied._

_So young..._

"_How about you come outside with me tonight to watch the stars, Private?"_

"_Yes Sir."_

_He nodded again and they continued to make their way back to base camp in silence._

_That night, the Private sat by Richard twenty minutes after he himself had situated himself in the softness of the sand. The boy's eyes were distant and gazed out over the dunes toward and endless horizon. There, they sat in silence for a few minutes, before Richard decided the silence was too uncomfortable._

"_So, what's your name, Private?" he asked finally._

"_Andrew, Sir," he said. "Andrew Trolen."_

"_Andrew huh? You may refer to me as Richard when we're not on duty. I'm Richard Madison."_

_The boy nodded._

_There was another long silence, until the boy spoke again._

"_I can't stand this anymore. I can't keep killing people who can't even defend themselves."_

"_You have to as long as you're out here."_

"_I can't. And I will never be able to repent for this. Not ever."_

_The boy felt the same way he did._

"_At least you can admit to yourself that you're making a mistake."_

"_What do you mean?" Andrew said, turning to him._

"_The Colonel enjoys this. Thinks nothing of killing the innocent. He's heartless."_

_The boy said nothing._

"_He thinks that he's perfect, and that everything he does is just. But we're not perfect, and admitting to yourself that you're not perfect, and that it's wrong to kill people like this, people who can't defend themselves, it's just one step. By admitting yourself that you make mistakes, you prove that you have a conscience, that you aren't heartless. Then you can work towards making it better, repenting. Maybe not directly to that person, but by changing yourself, and making sure you never repeat that mistake, and by helping others. All you have to do is be able to change yourself, after the war is done. Because then, this'll just be the past, and who you were in the past doesn't matter; it's who you are in the present that counts. You can't change who you were, but you can sure as hell change who you _are._ And you may spend your whole life repenting, and thinking that it's never enough, but it is. It is enough, and sometimes, more than enough, and you will be forgiven, even if it takes a lifetime."_

_The sat in silence for the remainder of their time out there. By the time they parted ways to head to the barracks, the rest of the camp was asleep. And that night, Richard fell into a dreamless sleep..._

Roy shut the book, shuddering. Andrew Trolen. He knew that man. He had met that very same man during the war, and gave him that very same speech. He knew what happened next.

"He's going to die," he said to the house.

This perked Envy's attention. Mostly because the man had actually spoken. The homunculus was on the verge of falling asleep as he watched the alchemist twitch on the couch while he read the book. There was apprehension on his face the whole while, and Envy felt like throwing something at him and shouting at him for being so uptight. It was just a book. Well, maybe to the homunculus, but not to Roy. But he didn't care. He wanted to leave, and go back to wandering. Or maybe he'd kill someone. He just wanted to do something other than watch a paranoid alchemist.

"That's right...Andrew will...he'll die..." he said again. The homunculus smirked. He was starting to remember.

How the boy would die was still beyond him. He couldn't remember. He just remembered seeing his body. He also remembered something... something the boy gave him. He couldn't come up with what it was. It buzzed around in his mind like an angry bee, but he couldn't catch it.

Slowly, he put the book back on the table and got up and went into the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror. Then, suddenly, images of the boy's body, and the corpses of those he himself had killed filled his mind, and he ripped open the lid of the toilet and vomited. He wasn't sure what brought this up, but when he had finished retching and flushed his breakfast, he looked at himself in the mirror again and saw that he was sweating profusely. There was a bad taste in his mouth now, and he brushed his teeth in an attempt to rid himself of it, and then walked into his bedroom and flopped onto his bed, his breath refusing to return to him.

* * *

ok, this section is really long. I just noticed that. It's about six pages long on my computer, so, for me, that's a long section, although not as long as the RoyxRiza chapter that I had to split into smaller chapters for convenience.

So back to business. I really enjoyed writing the next section for the actual book The Sins that Bind Us. The novel is a lot of fun to write for, because I get to take my perceptions of what happened in Ishbal and twist them around and, hopefully, make them really good for you guys. A lot of it is based purely on the randomness of mind, but I also took some facts from the anime, as a lot of you must've noticed by now. For instance, Mr Richard killing those two innocents was taken from ep. 15 (16?) When it is revealed that Roy kills two innocents. Duh. And As for Brad Gorna talking of eliminating the whole city, well, we all know Basque Gran was a terrible man, and I'm not sure, but I recall him saying something very similar. And if that's not the case, then I know they _did_ destroy the city, and I would figure that's what he would say. So ya. I'm shutting up now. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of wisdom;

When two teenagers are left to their own devices at three in the morning, many interesting things can come of it, such as a Miss America Pageant. In Japan. Featuring Men. These men include: Naraku, Itsuki(Yu Yu Hakusho), Nuriko (Fushigi Yugi), Sesshoumaru and others. With the exception of Sesshoumaru, the others were entered because they look (and act) like women. It all started with Sesshoumaru. And his fluff. We were really bored.


	27. Threat

Finally! My next chapter. Gomen for taking so long! There's been a lot going on, so I haven't had much to write. Also, Gomen that this section is so short, like Edward. I couldn't get the juices flowing. But I have ideas rared up to go, so I'm gonna write as much as possible. In the meantime, plz take the time to read my series of drabbles, 'Like Seeds in the Wind' I write them during study hall, when I don't have this manuscript available to me, but they're not bad. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

When Roy his opened eyes again, it was dark. He sat up slowly, and a sharp pain raced from his abdomen and danced along his nerves. He clutched the area tightly, which only made it hurt more, and he cried out in agony.

This sound roused Envy from his sleep. He was still watching that boring man, and he grew ever more tired of it by minute. He was surprised to learn that he, a being that required no rest, had fallen asleep. He could have just wandered the man's house some more or gone off to cause some random chaos, but if Lust found out that he had taken a break from watching the man, she might tell that bastard, and then he'd be punished. He preferred not to have contact with that man in the next few centuries, if he could help it.

The sound that Roy made was music to the ears of the green haired homunculus. Ah, that lovely melody of pain that echoed through the house, past the glass of the window and into his ears. It surged through his body and rejuvenated him, and reminded him that one day, that sweet sound of pain would be induced by him and him alone. Of course, the wound in Roy's abdomen was indeed Envy's doing, but he wanted to hear the screams of agony while he inflicted him with countless wounds. He desired to see lines and spots of red dance across delicate pale flesh. He wanted the blood to run between his slender fingers and feel the body shudder as it desperately tried to cling to life.

A small sadistic smile crept onto the face of the homunculus and he got an idea. He could move that book reading along a little faster, couldn't he? All he had to do was...

A knock on the front door called Roy's attention. He stood from the bed and put on a robe, which had been carelessly thrown there earlier in the week. He wrapped it around himself gently and tied it as carefully as he could without further irritating the wound. Cautiously, he walked to the door and opened it to find Riza on his doorstep. Her delicate golden locks fell over her shoulders, and a small amount of lipstick danced across her lips. She wore a tan over-shirt to cover a black blouse and –Hail the Heavens!– a black miniskirt. Surprised, he allowed his gaze to travel over her body and then back to her face, to which he blinked a few times.

"R-Riza? What brings you here? What time is it anyway?" he asked nervously.

"The time doesn't matter. I came here to see you, Roy. Why else?" she said.

"Ah...R-right. C-come in," he stammered. He stepped back to allow her entry and then shut the door. He then walked to her and took her coat, draping it on a hook that was fastened upon the door. Riza sat quietly upon the couch and he sat next to her, slightly uneasy.

"So, what brings you here?" Roy repeated. "And what about Hayate?"

"He'll be fine on his own for a while," she said, leaning against Roy.

A blush flared across his cheeks and he choked on his words. She looked up to him, a questioning look on her face.

"Is something wrong, Roy?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing, nothing," Roy replied, pulling away a little. A rush of pain surged from his abdomen, and he moved a hand over it reflexively, taking in a sharp breath of air.

"What's wrong, Roy. What happened?" Riza asked, panicked.

For a moment, all he could do was stare at her, eyes wide. Then he shook his head.

"I got hurt remember? By that homunculus. You probably don't recall, since you stayed up and watched over me for such a long time."

"Uh–yes," she said nervously. "Roy, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes, Riza?" he asked, relaxing now.

"Have you...been reading the book?" she inquired, looking into his onyx hues.

"Yes, but I haven't gotten very fa–"

"You should finish it as soon as possible," she interjected. "Then we can talk about it more. I want to know what you'll think of the entire story."

Slowly, he nodded. Then, next thing he knew, she was pressing against him, avoiding his wound carefully, and she was looking into his eyes again. A low gasp escaped him and then her lips was pressed tightly against his own, and he could feel the caress of her hand upon his cheek. He was tense for but a moment, and then relaxed, placing his arms around her, and leaning into the kiss. He drew her closer, and her hands explored his chest, feeling the firm muscles beneath the cloth of the bath robe. Soon, that was thrust open as the kiss ended, and she pressed her hands against his flesh, tracing the lines of his build with gentle and teasing fingertips. The feeling sent shivers up his spine, which Riza noticed, and grinned at him with an almost playful malice.

"You like that, ne?" she asked.

A small nod forced his head to move, and he smiled as well, running a hand through her golden locks. Then he gasped as she pressed him down against the couch with surprising strength, sitting just below the wound in his abdomen. She then held up one fingertip and traced it along the tender area that surrounded the wound. The contact with this sensitive flesh sent tiny, prickly legged spiders of pain racing up his nerves, which were followed by spiders of pleasure. He drew in a sharp breath and his back arched ever so slightly, as though he was trying vainly to escape.

Riza's grin turned almost wild as she continued to play with the tenderness of the surrounding skin, growing closer and closer each time to the marred flesh. Finally, she poked her finger past the weak scab that had formed over the wound. He let out a scream, and looked at her fearfully.

"Don't worry, Roy. It's ok. Everything's fine. This won't be long," she said.

* * *

So, Maybe you know. It's not hard to figure out what may or may not happen to Roy next, Depends. But gomen again for this being so short. I'll write more often, I promise! Arigato for being so patient with me.

Words of Wisdom:

Sometimes, men dressed as women can be sexier than women. Just ask Duzell, of Vampire Game.


	28. No Matter What

So, here's chapter 28. I had a lot of time these past few mornings when my mom was still sleeping, and my brother's obsessing over his new video game; Sly 3: Honor among Thieves. I played it a little bit, and it's not a bad game, but I hold creativity above video games, so ya.

But anyway! I wanted to say thank you guys for the reviews! I love reading them and I really love the ideas you guys suggest to me! So if you have any ideas, please tell me, and I'll see if I can put it to use. I plan on using an idea sent to me after I posted 27. I want to be able to use most, if not every, idea that you guys send me, so look for them if you send any! I don't mind criticism either, since it helps me to improve, so when you send that, I try to work on whatever you said was lacking. I don't catch half of the mistakes you guys point out, since I usually don't have time to revise before I post. I want to become a published author one day, so improvement is always an option! Anyway, thanks again you guys, and enjoy!

* * *

Edward Elric awoke at twilight after his confrontation with Envy. Pain surged through his head, stomach, back, and chest. He rolled onto his stomach and tried to climb to his feet, but was only upon his hands and knees like a dog before he began coughing uncontrollably, sometimes spitting up blood. When the fit ended, he slowly rose to his feet and walked back to the inn that he and Al were staying at. Wiping away the blood at his mouth with his glove, he figured that Al would be worried, since Edward had told him that he was just going to the library to check on something and then going to get some lunch. He had left his poor worried otouto-chan with only a few alchemy books as company.

When Edward opened the door to the inn, he expected no less than to be confronted with a myriad of questions, his brother demanding answers to his absence. Yet, none came. Alphonse sat calmly upon the bed, reading one of the books he had been left with. But something was amiss. Ah, yes, upon closer inspection, it was evident that Alphonse's leg was twitching, as though racked by nonexistent muscle spasms. He was worried, but he wasn't trying to show it. Edward shut the door quietly behind him.

"Hey Al, what's up?" Edward said casually, as though to get his brother's attention. He knew that Al had been focused on him the entire time.

"Oh, hey Brother. You're sure...uh...back late," Al said, trying to hide the anxiousness in his voice. However, since his voice was now his only expression of emotion, it betrayed him, and Edward caught it easily.

"Yeah, well, I ran into a bit of trouble at the–"

Well, that did it. Alphonse darted off of the bed and took hold of his brother's shoulders, holding back when he saw his Nii-san flinch, and examined him.

"Brother, you're hurt. What happened!"

"I ran into Envy in the park and we got into a little...fight," Ed said hesitantly. He didn't want to tell him that the teen homunculus had been cuddling with a fox when Edward found him. The thought still creeped him out, and would probably give him nightmares.

"Oh, Brother, you have to learn to be more careful. You know how Envy is! He's ruthless!"

"I know. I will be next time. I promise. Anyway, let's get some sleep, ok? We have a new lead, and we should take the next train north in the morning."

"Ok," Al said, releasing his brother's shoulders.

Within a few minutes, both Edward and Alphonse were in bed. As always, Ed could not tell if Alphonse was sleeping after the first half hour. It was terrifying, and it wreaked a feeling of paranoia on his common sense. Since he could not see his brother's eyes closed, or hear him breathing, he constantly fretted that his brother's soul had somehow drifted beyond the armor and away, far out of his grasp. Sometimes, when they were in the library, or just sitting on a hill, reminiscing with what was left of their childish spirits, a fear would creep over him, and instate an almost delirious and wild anxiety over him, and he would ask Al now and again if he was still there. He felt that it was a stupid question, and apologized constantly for inquiring his own brother's existence when the proof was right next to him. But Al lightly chided him for his constant apology. It scared Ed even more when, one day, his younger brother replied, "Sometimes, even I am unsure that I am still here."

So there Edward lay, watching the armor with a dismal but scrutinizing expression. He wanted to see a sign that would show whether or not he was asleep. After nearly twenty more minutes, his brother finally rolled over and mumbled something about Ed giving him back his toy. The elder Elric smiled and sat up and stretched his aching, abused muscles. When he successfully rid his body of its stiffness, he slipped out of bed and walked over to an open window placed upon the wall in front of the foot of his bed. The sill was wide enough for him to sit upon and he hoisted himself up so that one leg was up to his chest and the other hung outside into the chilly spring night. It was his real, flesh leg that received the pleasure of feeling the cold against it. It was strangely pleasing to have the icy air bombard his leg, and he shivered as a light breeze drifted to the window sill to attack his lightly clothed torso.

A strange feeling washed over him while he sat there, and that sensation turned into a sharp pain that reminded him of the tenderness of his stomach, where Envy had ruthlessly rammed his leg into it earlier. He remembered that the palm-tree homunculus had asked him at one point if it was a bad thing that he was laying there. Well, of course it was, right? The most ruthless of the homunculi, having emotional attachment to nothing and hatred for everything was laying in the grass and cuddling with a fox like a little kid! There was _definitely_ something wrong with that! But why Envy was actually acting like he liked the fox was beyond him; a mystery left to be unsolved. Of course, Edward didn't mind leaving it that way, since he'd hate to investigate only to find that Envy's true form, from his life as a human, had been a cute little school girl with a cat. It'd make the most beautiful blackmail, but Ed wasn't prepared for the mental scarring it would bring.

The clanking of metal sounded behind head just then, and startled, he jumped and turned his head to his brother's bed. But Alphonse had just rolled over again. Edward smiled again, thinking about how his little brother still acted like a little kid, despite everything. He on the other hand, yes Edward acted much older than he was, than he needed to. He paraded around like someone much older than Mustang or maybe even the Fuhrer, and sometimes, he had to remind himself that he was only sixteen. Yet, with the weight of the responsibilities on his shoulders, he could not take the time to act his age, and enjoy his adolescence. He needed the strength of someone older to carry all that weight, and since he refused to rely on any adult to help him, he had grown up mentally many years ago. It hurt sometimes, that he could not enjoy his childhood while it lasted. But he had no choice. He could not afford to entertain his childish wants when there were so many other important duties he had to carry out. Such as getting his brother's body back. Yes, that was his first priority, and he swore to himself time and time again that he would sacrifice anything, including his own life, so that Alphonse could have his body and be happy.

"I'll do anything for you Alphonse," Ed said as he stared into clear night. "I don't care what it takes. I'll do anything, just to make you happy. Even if it means that I have to..."

* * *

I'm sorry about this one being short too, but I couldn't just leave Edward lying in the park and then having him magically appearifying in later chapters. Plus, there was the issue of his devotion to his brother I just _had_ to touch on, as I always do with any Ed-centric story that I write. There were also a few...personal inputs that I felt needed to be mentioned, whether you find them or not is all you. But I had to get Ed back where he needs to be...coz I've gots plaaans for him! -evil laugh as she makes shrimp cocktail-

I think I may wrap this up soon, since I have like, 80 stories going, and posters to draw, mangas to read and homework to burn. But probably not for another...20 chapters or so? Not sure. I know what I want to do, and almost how the story will end, but I'm still working on how I'm going to go about getting there. Plus my note sheet isn't all the the way checked off, so until I get all my objectives set, it shalt not end!

Anyway, please review! I'd love hear hear what you think, your suggestions, your criticisms, or all three! Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Fullmetal Alchemist is the only place where you can show off your overly buff muscles to an equally matched opponent and make friends for life.


	29. Chapter 29

At last chapter 29 is up! Sorry it's taken so very very long. I've had some issues with time and inspiration, but I decided this morning that I was gonna finish it today! So I did. I had a lot of trouble towards the end of this chapter; you'll see why when you read, but I think it turned out ok. Sorry if you don't think so and it sucks. Anyway! I'm gonna get started on the next chapter, so enjoy Chapter 29!

* * *

Another scream rang out through the Mustang residence as Riza's nails dug deeper into the wound of the helpless taisa. He struggled to grasp her hand and tear it away from him, but one arm was wedged between his body and the back of the couch and Riza held down the other with amazing strength. He was unable to free himself, and was now at her mercy. The question was, just why was she doing all this?

"W-why?" Roy managed between gasps and hisses of pain. "What are you doing? What's wrong with...with you?"

He received only a smile as her nail dug into the top of the wound and tore downward, peeling the scab from its position, allowing it to bleed once more. He closed his eyes tightly and he hissed again.

And then there was a knock on the door. Riza shushed him harshly, emphasizing with a finger into his wound and the two waited, Roy trying not to cry out. Then there was another knock on the door, a light rapping upon the oaken frame. And then a voice, quiet and unsure, but worried.

"Roy?"

Wait a minute! That was Riza's voice! But how could it be? Wasn't Riza torturing him right now? Wasn't she the one who was tearing his delicate flesh, making him bleed over all his couch?

"Ri–" Roy could barely get out just that syllable before the hand that held down his arm clamped over his mouth. Surprised and panicked, the Flame Alchemist tried desperately to pry Riza's hand from him so that he could speak. He was unable to do this however, as the strength with which he was silenced was uncanny.

Of course, this plan would have worked if the door had been locked. But Roy was too nervous to bolt the door back up after Riza had walked in. He realized this only when the door opened, and in walked...Riza!

"What?" the Riza on top of Roy said.

"Uh...Roy?" the newly entered Riza asked. "Just...what's going on?"

With a growl, the one that confined Roy leapt from her spot upon the injured man and leapt for the other one that just as she shut the door. To the confused Flame Alchemist's horror, the Riza that just released him turned into Envy and now held the real Riza by the throat, against the door.

"Wait...what the..." Roy rasped, sitting up painfully. "Ah damn! You're gonna tell me that I just kissed that thing! And that it's a guy! Ah dammit! This can't be happening!"

"Well, it's not like I enjoyed it either! But I had to get you to read the damn book! Now things are complicated, now that she's here. I just might have to kill her after all," Envy sneered.

"Leave her alone you bastard!" Roy screamed as he charged towards the homunculus.

"Feh!" Envy scoffed as he kicked the taisa square in face, sending him flying across the room.

"R-Roy!" Riza managed to choke out. But she was running out of air, and it refused to enter her lungs. Desperate, she clawed the arms of the one who held her. It didn't work. He merely turned his gaze back to her and grinned maliciously, tightening his grip on her throat. What a time for her to be unarmed.

"You're so cute," Envy snickered. "And your neck is so slender. It'll be so easy to snap it. And yet, it's so amusing to see you suffer. I can't decide whether to kill you now, or later."

"Leave her alone!" Roy repeated as he clumsily climbed to his feet, leaning on the wall behind for balance.

"You can barely stand, fool. What makes you think you can stop me now?" Envy demanded, a chilling grin plastered onto his manic face.

"T-this," Roy said weakly, holding up one of his ignition cloth gloves. "Bad mistake to kick me near this table. I keep a spare pair of them on the top."

"Damn you," Envy cursed. But wait! There was a loophole in this after all, wasn't there? He held Riza up a little higher and she struggled more as she realized that her feet no longer touched the floor. "Torch me and you torch her too. Didn't think this through much, did you?"

Roy merely continued to glare at him, as though his stare would deteriorate the homunculus's resolve. Envy didn't like that deadly look in the alchemist's eyes, and so he tightened his grip on the woman's throat and, with a final cry, she fell limp in his grasp and he discarded her beside him. Roy's eyes widened and he dropped his hand to his side. Envy's grin expanded to the length of his face as Roy's expression became chaotic and distorted.

In an instant, Roy was rushing over to Riza, pushing the homunculus aside with strength that the green-haired one could not identify. Terrified, the alchemist collapsed beside her, and placed her head on his lap, stroking her hair. Tears streamed down his face in a river as he whispered to her, pleading with her to wake up, but she did not stir, her face placid and free of pain. Without warning, Roy cried out and raised his gloved hand and snapped, engulfing the homunculus who stood contented behind them in flames. Startled, Envy screamed and jumped through a nearby window, running far away from the house, the flames dying down and glass sticking to various parts of his body.

But Roy did not notice the homunculus's exit. Salty tears cascaded down his cheeks now in a waterfall that rivaled the extravagance of the Niagara.

"Riza...Riza..." Roy repeated over and over again, shaking his head in disbelief. Tears fell from his chin onto her pale cheeks, and Roy leaned closer to her, so that his lips pressed to her brow. But wait, was that... yes! Suddenly, he felt her breathing lightly against his forehead and he took his head away to glance at her. She was alive!

"Riza!" he screamed half joyfully, half fearfully. "Riza, oh thank God you're alive!" He pulled her closer to him, her head against his chest. More shudders racked his weakened body and he began to weep tears of ecstasy, laughing between his sobs, a smile spread across his tear streaked face. "I love you. I love you so much, Riza. Thank God you're alive. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you, Riza."

"...love...you too," said a faint voice against his chest.

Roy gasped at the sound and sat back so that he could see Riza's face. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him, her honey-colored eyes dulled. Her expression softened from that of slight discomfort to a gentle smile. Roy's own obsidian orbs widened, and he grinned sadly and then clutched her again, laughing and sobbing all at once, and with her head throbbing, Riza had difficulty telling whether he was more happy that she was alive or upset that she had gotten mixed up in all this. Weakly, she reached a hand to his face and caressed his tear-stained cheek and his grin died away. At first, he tensed at the touch, and then he leaned into it, a distant smile spreading across his lips. He lowered his head to hers and took in her scent, felt her breath against his skin.

Feeling the way he shuddered as he held her, a deep sorrow seemed to fill her lungs, and prevented the air from entering them. This sadness constricted her chest, and caused her gaze to drift out of focus and into another world. She began to fall slightly limp in his arms, and, feeling this, Roy frantically called to her, shaking her so as to keep her conscious. With a minute or so of coaxing, her body became tense again and he sighed in relief.

"You're scaring me, Riza," he whispered tremulously.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice beginning to fill with guilt. "I'm just having a ha–"

Before she could finish her sentence, Roy had locked his lips to hers, pulling her head up to his. She gasped quickly before returning the kiss, clasping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up with what little strength she had. Soon, they were level, and she felt Roy's hands move behind her back to support her. At the touch, she felt her heart flutter in her bosom, and she shivered in pleasure. The exchange became hungry and rapid, without rhythm but so full of want and need. Roy removed his lips from hers and moved onward, brushing his lips tantalizingly against her cheek and forehead. Then, without notice, he slipped to her neck and nipped at it, most times gently, but sometimes with just a little force so that it caused no more pain than brushing a fingertip against a thumbtack. Riza leaned her head away from him, and he took this as an invitation and moved up her slender throat, to just below her jaw. She moaned as he traced the lines to her collarbone with his lips, and wished that the moment would never end...

* * *

Yes, I know. It really took me that long to write that little bit. UU Sorry. Between school work and writing a truckload of drabbles, I've had some trouble getting around to this, as I've mentioned before. But I'm gonna try to write more and update more quickly, because, truth be told, I want to see how this story will turn out! Yes, that means I have no idea what I'm doing! But it comes out when it feels like it, so I never really know what's going on til it's on the page. But my checklist is dwindling, so that's a good thing. I want to accomplish the objectives soon! Anyway, please review, I'd love to hear what you guys think! Please also feel free to tell me I suck at fluffy scenes, coz I know I do. Anyway, Ja ne until next time!

Words of Wisdom:

There's bad news and worse news. The bad news is that the world is flat. The worse news is that it's tilted. In short, we're all screwed.


	30. Seasite

Yay! Chapter 30! First, I want to say thank you to the people who read this story, whether you have followed it from day one, or if you have just recently developed an interest. It's my readers and their support (And death threats) that keep me writing. I must apologize for the lack of updates, but I've been so busy! I'm going to be pretty busy this month, so I ask that you guys are patient with me. But I'm so happy that I made it to chapter 30! I never imagined having a story this long! So I am very happy for that. Thank you for all your support! Please enjoy Chapter 30 of The Sins that Bind Us!

* * *

Had he been on an island, people would have thought one of the trees were moving, but since his hair was so differently styled from that of the indigenous giants that surrounded him, he could be easily spotted. He walked now with a slight limp, his hair disheveled, and burns covering his body. He was panting now, from all the running he had to do to kill the flames that had engulfed him. 

Envy didn't know why he had run when Roy's fire had surrounded his flesh. He should have been stronger, no, he _was_ stronger than that! But still, something in him had panicked, like a child who claimed to love being in the dark and being shut in a closet. He growled at the thought. By no means was he a child! That was absolutely ridiculous! He was a homunculus, and the strongest one there was, no one matched his strength, his abilities, and his cunning. So then why did he run?

Sunlight invaded his view all of a sudden, and he found himself in a clearing, where a lake sat quietly, breaking off at one end to form a river, which disappeared into the trees. The water that moved beyond his view gave a soft, almost melancholy sound as it splashed over rocks and logs. Slowly, he strode over to the lake and sat next to it, pulling his legs up to his chest. He winced as the burns rubbed against each other, but they soon healed themselves, and he gave a smirk, admiring his face in the pristine water.

"Good thing for this healing ability of mine, otherwise this beautiful face could have been marred for the rest of eternity," he told his reflection.

Of course, he was only talking to himself, so there was no one there to embellish his ego. After a while, he sighed and lay on his back, allowing his feet to drift carelessly in the water. At first, he nearly yanked them out, as it was freezing, but he only tensed, and after a minute or so, his feet got used to it, and he relaxed. His hair was scattered around him, except for when a light breeze pushed past him and sent some strands of his dark locks into his face.

"Is all this really worth it?" he asked the sky. White, fluffy clouds played a slow game of tag with one another above him and dissolved over time, allowing the pure blue to peek through. "What's the point of being human again? It's not like he'll accept me any more than he does now. In fact, he might accept me less. So there's no point in trying to be human."

He'd thought this many times before. He couldn't see the point in it, but he still never told anyone. He just went along with their plans and said the words they wanted him to say. He never meant any of that though. Well ok, he _did_ mean some of it. The insults and death threats, yeah, he meant all those. But the desire to become human? Not in the slightest. All he wanted was freedom. The feeling of being able to go wherever he wanted and do what he pleased. He didn't want to do what other people told him to, and he didn't want to be controlled by someone from the sidelines.

He often wondered if he could escape, like Greed did. Of course, that man wanted everything in the world, and would do anything to get it, so when he decided on going off and being free, they couldn't do much about it but seal him. Envy knew that if he did what Greed did, he'd end up sealed as well, or maybe something worse, since that bastard and _that person_ were his parents, so they might treat him differently. His actions might be perceived as utterly unacceptable, and they might decide to get rid of him. After all, he meant nothing to them now, except as a tool. But he didn't want to be a tool anymore, dammit!

Finally, he stood up and, without bothering to dry his feet, followed the river into the woods. He walked around trees and bushes while keeping close to the bank, and listened to the music it played, accompanied by the birds and the breeze. It was a quiet and beautiful symphony of natural sounds, and for some reason, it relaxed him. After a while, he stepped into the freezing water, and traveled downstream that way. The current gently pushed him onwards, and the feeling of the water hitting against the back of his legs sent shivers up his spine. His toes sank in the soft mud, and the squishy feeling earned a chuckle from him. He actually slipped into the mud up to his knee a few times, and had to endeavor to free it from the soft clay. When the riverbed became more solid, the water became phenomenally deeper, and it slipped up to his chest, causing him to shudder more, but it was a pleasant feeling. He continued to walk onwards, and once or twice, the water overtook him and he became submerged, but he came up quickly and proceeded, unphased. It seemed like he walked for hours, and after a long time, he stopped in front of a beautiful sight.

He stood on the top of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. Fluffy white clouds danced along the horizon as well as above him, hovering over the water like marshmallows on hot cocoa. The sun shone brightly in the early afternoon, casting a golden reflection upon the water. The water itself was the most beautiful blue he had ever seen. It was so clear, he could see to the bottom hundreds of feet away. The sandy beach below him was pure, unstained by the imprints humanity had made on so many other virgin soils. A smile crept onto his face and he sat upon the cliff's edge, gazing out over the sea, taking in the sight, breathing in the salty air.

A briny wind pushed past him while he sat with his legs hanging over the rocky edge. The smell tickled his nose and brushed his hair into his face and over the uncovered flesh of his body. The wind was pleasantly warm, and added to the comfortable feeling of the scenery around him. The sight before his eyes tantalized him, and before he knew it, he was taken over by its power and leaping down the rocks that jutted out of the crag below the smooth surface upon which he previously sat. Soon, he was standing upon the beach, the soft sand pushing between his toes. At first, he could not believe how it felt, and moved the digits deeper into the grains, stooping over to use his hands afterwards.. After a while, he got bored with the small effort to bury his feet and pulled them out and walked to the water's edge. He watched the waves start out far away, then come closer, and closer, getting smaller and smaller, until they were only a few inches tall and lolled lazily against his feet.

"_Look, Father! Look how pretty the water is!" he called, his blonde hair following with the direction of the wind as he raced towards the pristine blue ocean._

"_Takes off your shoes before you go in so they don't get wet! And roll up your pants, too!" his mother called after him, a commanding tone in her voice._

"_Yes, Mother!" he cried happily, following the instructions. Soon he was splashing about in the cool water, giggling. "Come on, Father! Come with me!"_

"_Alright, alright," his father said. He set down a small picnic basket and took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his pant legs. He gave a small kiss to his wife before running into the water to join his son._

_His mother watched the boys play with a serene smile on her face, and she set up the blanket they had also taken with them and sat upon it, placing her hands upon her dress. He splashed water at his father, and it speckled the man's glasses, causing him to temporarily loose clear sight as he pulled them from his face and cleaned them with his shirt. Then, his father returned the gesture, and threw water at him. His hair fell limp and wet, too heavy to follow the wind now, and he giggled. His father turned and ran and he excitedly gave chase, running as fast as his ten year old body could carry him. There was a rock in his path however, and he tripped over it, falling face-first into the water and sand, sitting up with tears and sand grains in his eyes. His father rushed over to him and cleaned his face with a handkerchief, smiling at him when his face was free of the wet soil._

"_Are you ok?" he asked with a laugh in his voice._

_He nodded, and laughed, placing his hand behind his head and then started to stand when he heard his mother's frustrated voice call out over the beach, coming closer with each syllable._

"_See? This is why I didn't want him to go into the water. I knew he was going to get all wet and dirty."_

"_Oh, relax, dear," his father said calmly. "That's why we brought him an extra change of clothes. Nothing's wrong with having a little fun, after all..."_

"...We don't get to go out like this very often," Envy said to the ocean.

* * *

I actually just finished this chapter this morning! I was very distracted while writing it, what with the music playing and the brother coming down with his demand of help with his math homework. And then I made something on my computer, and it took three tries to get it right! But overall, I like this chapter. And its descriptions and stuff. It turned out ok. 

Also, shortly after I posted theOneshot entitled 'Real,' it came to my attention that many people seem to think I wrote that to be extremely serious and life like...kinda. In fact, someone told me that I needed help, or something along those lines. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I have to ask you guys, when you read my stories, please don't look so very deeply into my words, and then proceed to send me reviews stating I'm schizophrenic. I am already aware of my mental status being as such, and I needn't any reminders! XD kidding kidding. I was just a little...thrown off by that. Anyway, please continue to let me know what you think and thanks again for reading! Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Greed's weakness is different from that of the other homunculi. He is not weakened by being in the presence of his bones. He is weakened by...I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.


	31. Chapter 31

Phew! I've made it to Chapter 31! It took sooo long! Sorry about that. I kept getting so stuck on certain scenes, and then I wasn't sure how I wanted it to end...and I've been pretty busy too. I finished this this morning, and I was like... 'DANCE PARTY!' But also, a close friend of mine wanted me to write. She loves this story. So does the bishie...but that's beside the point. I finally finished it. I hope to have a little more time for things as the new year rolls in, so hopefully, I can update quicker. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Riza opened her eyes to find a warm morning light washing through the curtains, resting gently upon her face. She slowly sat up, only to find that she was without clothing. In fact, her clothes were folded and placed neatly across the room upon a mahogany table. She looked around at her surroundings. Beautifully painted landscapes hung in delicately decorated frames upon the walls, and a bookcase sat next to a small desk. Some of the books hung carelessly out of the shelves, sitting upon their spines, while others were either on the floor or on the desk. The door was shut, which relieved Riza. Upon that door was a small plastic bag which, peering through it, Riza could make out tubes of paint and brushes.

"This isn't my house. So then... where am I?"

Further investigation of her surroundings revealed a pair of white gloves on the desk next to one of the books, and a men's suit hanging on a hanger on the closet door. She was not in her house at all. Stunned, she tried to recall what had happened the night before. She remembered walking into Roy's house to find someone who looked just like her, but changed into someone else. It must be the one that Roy described as Envy. Then she was being choked by that being, and then Roy had her in his arms and was kissing her and then... Oh no. Did they...? Oh no! There was no way they did that!

Frantically, she dressed and walked out and down the stairs to the smell of breakfast cooking and the sound of a young child talking. What was going on? As she reached the bottom of the steps, she encountered Elycia, who pranced up to her happily and greeted her. Riza smiled warmly and ruffled her hair, watching then as the girl darted away. It took her a minute to realize that Elycia Hughes was in Roy Mustang's house. A little frightened, she rushed into the kitchen where she found Maes and his wife, Gracia, to be the ones cooking.

"Maes? Mrs. Hughes?" Riza said, confused. Maes turned a grinning face to her.

"Good morning, Riza! Sleep well?" he asked before turning back to the stove where he was preparing eggs.

"Good morning, Ms. Hawkeye. And please, call me Gracia," Mrs. Hughes said before giving a piece of toast to her daughter.

"What's going on here? Am I really in Roy's house?" Riza asked.

"Of course you're at Roy's. We dropped by last night. We were actually just going to deliver Roy some dinner that my wife made, but then we saw someone jump out the window in flames. It took us a while to get the door open, and–"

"Did Roy and I...?" Riza began only to cut herself off, too embarrassed to speak the reality of what she thought was true.

"Man! You guys were making so much noise we had to plug Elycia's ears for the night so she could sleep! Had a hard time myself, what with you guys–"

"No, you didn't do anything Riza," Gracia interrupted, giving Maes a glare. "At least, not what you're thinking. You were unconscious by the time we got in. Roy asked me to help you upstairs, and since your clothes were a little bloody, I washed them for you. Don't be scared. Roy told me to let you have his bed and the three of us to take the guest room."

"Then, where did he sleep?" Riza asked a little worriedly.

"On the couch. In fact, I think he's still there," Maes said with a cackle. "Probably still in there, that crazy fool."

She then recalled that his wound had been reopened by that being, and her face became fearful once again.

"Roy...is he ok?" she asked with panic invading her tone.

Maes turned serious as he stepped close to her, shadows filling in the lines of his face.

"I'm sorry, Riza," he said darkly.

Before she panicked, Gracia hit him in the head with a dish towel and turned a gently smiling face to Riza.

"He's fine. In a little bit of pain, but he's fine. We bandaged him up and gave him a painkiller. He's just resting now, like he should be."

With that said, she raced out of the kitchen and into the living room, stopping in front of the couch. There Roy lay, on his back, one hand placed gingerly above his bandaged wound, the other at his side. A peaceful look played upon his face, and occasionally, a grunt sounded from his throat. The bandage that covered his wound was seeped in blood.

Riza's expression relaxed a little when she let go of the breath she held in the form of a sigh. Then, she fell to her knees by his side and stroked his hair, smiling weakly.Small tears formed a salty stream down her cheeks and she quickly succumbed to sobs, clutching his hand and pressing her head to the cushion next to him.

"I'm so sorry Roy," she sobbed into the fluffiness of the couch cushion. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you! I wish I could take this wound from you, and take all your pain and have it for my own, and then you wouldn't have to deal with it!"

"That's awfully selfish of you," Roy's voice remarked quietly.

She gazed up at him and gave another small smile before stroking his hand a little more.

"I know," she whispered quietly. "But I'd do anything for your safety and happiness. I don't care if that's selfish. It's all I could ever want."

"Well, I'm certainly happy," he said, stroking her hair. "And I'm sure I'm safe. I'm just in a little bit of pain, that's all. And it's really not that bad, so you don't have to worry, ok?"

"But you're still injured. You shouldn't have to be. I know you got reinjured before I came here, but you also strained yourself to protect me, and made it worse! I feel like it's all my fault."

"No, it's not your fault at all. Please, don't blame yourself. I'm alright. But I've been thinking a lot about that book. I think it has something to do with the Philosopher's Stone, and that's why the homunculi have been coming for me."

"But what do you know about the Philosopher's Stone that they would want you for?" Riza asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I really don't know. In fact, I can't recall any other information based on the Stone other than what Edward has told me. But I think it has something to do with that book."

"What do you mean?"

"While the one called Envy was disguised as you, he urged me to read the book. He claimed it was because he wanted to 'discuss the book with me,' but that was because that was what I would have expected you to say. But remember when I first started reading it? You told me that, throughout the book, the location of something is mentioned, but never given? What if that 'thing' is the Philosopher's Stone? The one character in it, Andrew Trolen, I remembered about him after I read one of the chapters. What if the homunculi wrote that book, altering the one called 'Intertwining Sins' to make me remember something I forced myself to forget because it was in Ishbal? What if they staged it so that you would give me the book, and what if...what if I know about the location of the Philosopher's Stone, but in my endeavor of trying to erase all that horror from my mind...forgot it?

"But that means that they're using you to get the Stone. What happens when you've served your purpose?" Riza asked fearfully.

"They'll get rid of me," Roy said darkly, confirming Riza's fear.

* * *

Dun dun duuunnn! Ok, so a little bit of horrorness, but knowing the homunculi and recalling words from previous chapters, of course you probably knew that was coming, ne? So yea. I'm gonna try to get to the point where he's like 'OMG the stone is (insert location here)!' So...yeah. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it's so short. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

When all else fails, take someone hostage.


	32. Clue

Man! Sorry it's taken so long, but ideas for other stories have been coming from all directions! And recently, I had an idea for a Haru story, but I'm not so sure how I'm gonna implement it! But...yea. I wanted to get to a good point before I posted the next chapter, and I finished this section today. There's a few paragraphs after his, actually, but I think that I left you guys with a good cliffhanger. Maybe. It's the kind of stuff I get yelled at for. Cliffhangers. Anyway. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

When Edward went into headquarters to report to Mustang only to not find him there for nearly the tenth day in a row, he started to worry. He didn't want to admit that he was fearful that something had happened to the Colonel, but something in his gut wrenched itself, and forced him to take some kind of action. He had told Al that it was time to go see Roy Mustang.

"Why are we going to see the Colonel, Nii-san?" Al asked as he walked behind his older brother.

"I wanna see why the hell he hasn't been at work," Ed replied in a tone that he hoped wouldn't betray him and alert his brother to his worry.

"Are you worried about him?" Al asked, as though reading his brother's mind.

"No! I bet he's just slacking off, and that's a pain in the ass!" Ed retorted, almost too defensively. "How is he supposed to give us new leads on the Stone if he's at home being lazy?"

"I guess you're right," Al said with a small sigh.

When they arrived to the Colonel's home, they saw Maes outside, talking to someone as he placed a new glass in one of the side windows. They went to join him out of curiosity and got his side of the story from him. It was Edward who panicked when the telling of the story had finished, and he raced into the house and over to Mustang, who was still laying on the couch. Riza sat next to him on the floor; one hand stroking one of Mustang's, and one of the man's stroking her hair. Looking closely, Edward could tell that Riza had been crying. When his golden hues trailed over Roy and spotted the blood-soaked bandage, his arms fell limply to his sides and he nearly collapsed in panic and fear.

"M-Mustang," he said at last when his voice found him, his eyes growing as wide as they possibly could. "W-what happened to you?"

"I was attacked," Mustang said simply, taking his hand from Riza's hair and running it through his own a few times.

"Attacked? By who?" Edward nearly screamed.

"Not really who. _What_. I was attacked in the bar Hughes and I went to about a ten days ago, by a homunculus," Roy paused when Edward's eyes defied all logic and grew larger. "Called Envy."

"Envy?" Ed whispered. He felt pangs of hatred slam against his heart, making the panic turn into rage.

"And Lust. She was there, although she attacked Maes."

"Mr. Hughes was attacked?" Al asked, taking a hollow step forward.

"Yea, but unlike Roy, I didn't get in anymore life or death situations shortly after the incident and it's healing fine," Maes declared with a smile as he came into the room.

"Shut it," Roy growled.

"You know that's true," Maes said with a shrug. "Anyway Roy, I fixed your window."

Complying with Edward's demands, Maes, Roy and Riza told the Elric brothers what had happened over the past week and a half. They stood there quietly, listening while the adults spoke. When they had finished, Edward was trembling, although whether it was out of anger or fear or panic and disbelief, Roy couldn't tell until Edward spoke.

"You mean you've known where to find a Philosopher's Stone and you haven't told us!" Edward screamed, glaring at Roy.

"No, Fullmetal. I told you that I pushed as much of Ishbal as I could out my mind. I forgot where the Stone was a long time ago. This book," Roy said, holding up the book which had been sitting on an end table next to his couch. "Was written by the homunculi in an attempt to force me to remember. And it's working."

"So then, where is the Stone?" Ed demanded, taking a step closer to the injured man.

"I told you already, I don't _know_, Fullmetal!" Roy screamed angrily. Elycia squealed in the kitchen, either from the noise or something else. "I only remember some things right now. Like the man called Andrew Trolen. He was a Private in my party during the war, but he died. I haven't read up to his death, but I know that he died. I remember that much. But I don't know how."

Riza had kept silent during this part of the conversation. She stared intently at the book, as though trying to figure out what Roy was supposed to remember. But she could not recall the hints that were given throughout the book, despite having read it herself only a few months ago.

"Well, if you can't remember, the only way to find out is to read the book, right?" Maes said casually.

"But then, if he remembers, he'll just be walking right into a trap!" Riza protested.

"And who's to say we can't meet that trap with an ambush?" Maes countered with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Roy asked.

"Well, they don't know we're onto them, right? But since we do, we can prepare ourselves for whatever they throw at us," the spectacled man replied.

"I guess you're right," Roy said quietly.

"Then read it, but read it aloud," Edward suggested. "Maybe we can help you out somehow."

Roy nodded before positioning himself as best as he could with the pain and flipped to the page where he had previously stopped reading.

_The days came and went in that desolate and sandy world. There was so much sand everywhere, and by the time this was all over, Richard was certain that he would never want to go to the beach again, solely because there was sand there, too. Everyday brought something more terrible now; the raids became more frequent, and the killings more numerous. Richard soon learned that Andrew's bunk was moved next to his, and by night, the two young men would journey out into the ocean of sand and talk. It helped to ease the inner turmoil that threatened their sanity._

_One night during their talk, Andrew leaned back into the sand, allowing the grains to worm into his hair to mingle with the others that the wind brought daily. Richard watched as the young Private looked almost fearfully at the stars, as though fearing judgement at that very moment._

"_Why are we fighting, anyways?" Andrew asked at last._

"_The people of this city rebelled and–" Richard began._

"_No, I mean the _real_ reason," Andrew interrupted._

"_What do you mean?" the Major asked, looking at the younger man._

"_We could have put the rebellion down easily and set up a sufficient government for this city, and then monitored it over time, and that wouldn't require the murder of all the innocent people like this. There's something we're looking for."_

"_I'm not quite sure what you mean," Richard said quietly._

"_I heard some of the higher ups talking about it at dinner a few nights ago. They mentioned something that would make the military really powerful. In fact, I believe they said that it would, 'Solve all our problems.' What if what they're looking for can end this whole thing? What if it can make it so that we can fix everything we've done?"_

"_Just what are you suggesting? That this thing is some magical cure-all that can even revive the dead?" Richard said, watching as the younger man's eyes became wild with possibility._

"_And what if it could? Think about it! We wouldn't have to live with the guilt of killing them, because we could make them come back! It'd be like it never happened!" Andrew said excitedly._

"_Like it never happened..." Richard repeated softly. Could there really be something out there like that?_

_The remainder of the night passed, and Andrew's mind would not leave that single object. At long last, Richard suggested that they turn in, and Andrew stood, futilely trying to shake the sand grains from his hair, and then followed his friend back to the barracks, where both men slept, and dreamt of the possibilities of such a powerful object.

* * *

_

_The raids continued, and despite their grotesqueness, and their increasing viscosity, Richard Madison and Andrew Trolen were able to smile. Their night talks became flooded with rumors and hypotheses of the thing that could make all the pain they felt go away. Andrew, in particular, became obsessed with this object, and talked about it constantly with Richard. Soon, hope came to the men that they could be saved from this horror, and go back to living a normal life. One day, Richard decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while now._

"_Andrew," Richard said slowly. "Why did you decide to come here and go to war?"_

"_Back then," Andrew said. "I felt like we had a noble cause going. After all, the propaganda said that we were punishing rebels who dared to challenge our authority. I wanted to help that cause. But now...now that I know the truth, that we're only massacring an entire race of people to get a single object, well...I can't really say I'm so excited about doing this anymore. But once you and I find what they're looking for, we'll fix it, and it'll all be like it never happened. Richard, you'll help me find it, won't you?"_

_Richard gave a small nod as he recognized the uncertainty and doubt in the young man's voice. "Yes, I'll help you."

* * *

_

_As the days went on, Andrew became more and more obsessed with the object that would end all his internal suffering, and before Richard really knew what was happening, it was all that the young Private talked about. Richard soon grew tired of having the same conversation nearly every night, but he knew that Andrew was young, and his mind could not truly handle the horrors of war. He felt bad for the young man, and he decided it would be best to entertain his thoughts and hopes of finding the object. However, as time went on and he heard nothing about it but theories, he began to think that it was only a myth, and that it wasn't real at all. But a part of him wouldn't let it go either. That part of him hungered for salvation._

_One day, Richard had gone off on a walk by himself, during which he had begun to ponder about the object and the war. He came back to find a large crowd gathered around his barracks. Curious, he used his authority as a ranking officer to push through the gathering, only to wish that he had stayed outside of the barrier of people. There was nineteen year-old Andrew Trolen, or rather, his body. In the young man's hand was his pistol. The side of his head was blown away by a single bullet, and blood was splattered everywhere. Gorna greeted Madison with only a nod before speaking._

"_Suicide," Gorna said, confirming Richard's fears._

"_I see," Richard said distantly. He couldn't help but keep his eyes on the grotesque form of the Private._

"_He left a note," Gorna said, catching the Major's attention. "Ironically, it was addressed to you."_

"_To me?"_

_Gorna nodded and handed him a piece of paper. Richard looked at the Colonel for a long moment. The reply to his silent question was a nod, and he opened the messily folded paper to read the message scrawled upon it. It read:_

_Richard-_

_What they're looking for is where the lost seek refuge._

_Richard stared at it for a long time, his eyebrows furrowing and knitting together to emphasize his confusion._

"'_Where the lost seek refuge...'" Madison repeated to himself._

_Without another word, Gorna had Andrew's body removed and the mess cleaned up. Richard offered to clean up the things on Andrew's bunk, which was littered with many items. The Colonel nodded and left with the rest of his entourage._

_As Richard began to sift through his friend's things, he spoke aloud to himself._

"_What are you trying to tell me?" Madison whispered._

_He then came upon a picture of a statue of the God that the rebels submitted to. There was something written on it, but Richard couldn't read the shaky writing. There was also a piece of paper folded under that, which had Richard's name on it. Slowly, he opened it. It read:_

_Richard-_

_If you're reading this, that means I have already taken my own life. I found out where it is but I can't tell you, since someone else might read this. I know what you're thinking. 'Why would he kill himself if he knew where it was?' I'm sorry. I couldn't stand the pain anymore. And I couldn't get to it. You can still save yourself, though. Find it, and be happy._

_Richard sighed as he stared at the note and then looked back to the picture of the statue. Andrew was never a religious man, or so he had said, an even if he was, he would not have submitted to the God of the rebels. So then why was it here? It had to be important somehow. But what could it mean? Unable to think, Richard folded the paper, the note, and the suicide note, and placed them all in his pocket. Then he continued to clean up the rest of Andrew's belongings and, when he was finished, he set what he didn't deem as important to the location of the object in his bag. He later turned this bag over to the Colonel, who ordered it burned._

_To Richard, it seemed as though he were trying to hide something from the rest of the military. Maybe he had known that Andrew was looking for the object as well. Or maybe it was just protocol to burn the things of an officer? No, that couldn't be true. Richard has always heard that the things were given to family members. When he considered this, he became very suspicious of the Colonel, and when he was around his superior, watched him closely, hoping for some kind of clue that he had an idea of what Andrew had been doing. What if burning his things was all just a coverup?_

_No clues of the Colonel having such knowledge ever turned up. Richard gave up the 'investigation' within two weeks, and focused his energy on the clues left for him by Andrew. He spent hours staring at the note, and the picture of the statue. While his was on guard duty, he repeated the same line in his mind, over and over. _

"_Where the lost seek refuge...Where the lost seek refuge..."_

_What could it possibly mean? Where was it that the lost sought refuge? This question stayed on Richard's mind for weeks, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure it out. It drove him insane!_

_About a month after Andrew's death, Richard was called into the command tent by Colonel Gorna. Richard was nervous when he walked in, thinking it had something to do with the deceased Private, but Gorna did not mention the young man._

"_There's a lot of rebels hiding out in the church," Gorna said, standing and looking at a map. "I want you to take a unit there and flush them out. Kill them all."_

"_Sir! There must be women and children there, too! I can't just kill those who have not even taken up arms against us!" Richard said, his voice rising._

"_I don't care if there are 'innocent' people in that church. You are going to kill every last one of them. Those are our orders."_

"_Yes...Sir," Richard said, defeated, and plodded out of the tent to prepare.

* * *

_

_The preparations for the raid were completed within an hour, and before Richard even knew what was happening, he was standing in front of an army of about three hundred men. His heart sank as he saw officers who must have been as young or maybe even younger than Andrew among the ranks. When he stepped onto a box, which served as a podium, he hesitated before announcing the details of their mission._

"_We've gotten intelligence stating that a group of rebels are hiding out in the church. Our orders are to kill all of them. Leave no one alive. Now let's move out!"_

"_Yes Sir!" the crowd shouted, and they followed Richard as he stepped off the podium and to the head of the group, marching in perfect formation._

_When the troops reached the church, there was no evidence to suggest that there were people inside. There was no one standing guard and, when one officer put their ear to the door, not a sound was heard from the inside. Richard was cautious, however. He ordered to men to open the huge stone doors and four men to guard them. In the meantime, he had the rest of the troops fan out around the door in several lines, weapons ready._

_When the door was open, they were met with a small volley of shots, which took down one soldier. The rest of Richard's troops all charged in, crying out and taking down anyone they could. Richard stayed behind with a few men to guard him to make sure a medic took care of the man who was injured right off. As it turned out, the bullet had only hit his leg, although it had shattered the bone. It looked like he would be fine as long as it was properly taken care of._

_After the soldier was carried away, Richard walked into the church to find that most of the rebels inside were dead. He walked in and looked around, watching as his men massacred the people. For a moment, he was going to scream for them all to stop and let the remaining women and children leave, but to his surprise there was none. The only people that were dying here were men. _

"_I thought there were women and children here, too," Richard said aloud to himself._

"_Why would that matter? You want to kill them, too?" screamed a man as he charged at Madison, a knife in his hands._

"_That's not it at all," Richard said as he grabbed the man's hands at the wrists. "I don't want any more women and children to die. They can't even defend themselves!"_

"_Liar!" the man screamed as he struggled to get free so that he could attack. "You're just telling me that so I'll tell you were they are so you can massacre the–"_

_Before the man finished his sentence, half of his head was blown away by the bullet of an officer from the side. Richard gasped as blood and other bodily fluids squirted everywhere, and when he let go of the man's wrists and watched as he fell to the floor, he felt as though something had hit him in the stomach. He struggled to stop the impulse to retch at the sight and cleaned his face with a handkerchief. He then faced the soldier and forced a light smile. _

"_That you, soldier. You saved my life."_

"_An honour, Sir!" the soldier said with a salute before he ran off to join what little action the few remaining rebels provided._

_While everyone else fought, Richard looked around, and suddenly the line from Andrew's letter came to him again. _

"'_Where the lost seek refuge,'" Richard said to himself quietly._

_It was then that he came upon the large statue at the altar. It was of the rebels' God. Richard stared up at it for a long moment, before he realized that it looked very similar to the statue in the picture that was on Andrew's bed.

* * *

_

DUN DUN DUUUUNNN -insert horror music here- I had a lot of fun with this chapter, when I actually got around to it. NOT ENOUGH TIME! But I finally got it. So Yay. I think this story ish actually gonna be done pretty soon. Like in the next twenty or thirty pages. I'm at a point where there's going to be a lot happening, and I know exactly where this is going, for once. I'm really looking forward to finishing up this story. Not because I'm tired of it, but because I want to see what you guys think of it. Anyway! I'll be leaving now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you all for being so patient with me! I'll try to update a little more consistently. Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

When you're in a haunted house and don't want to be scared, do what Hatsuharu Sohma does. Make up your own scenarios. Just don't break things.


	33. I'm Going

So! This is chapter 33! I had quite a bit of it done last week, but I didn't have the time to finish it. Actually, the last chapter and this one are in the same section on my computer, but I wanted it to be very dramatic, so I decided to divide it all up! HA! Kidding, it wasn't to anger you guys, so please don't kill me. I really hope you enjoy this chapter. It was really hard to write, because I knew what I wanted to say, but I wasn't so very sure how to put it, and then I had to make a certain page limit so I could print it, so it took a bit of editing. But this is chapter 33 in all its glory or lack thereof; that's for you to decide. Anyways, please enjoy reading chapter 33!

* * *

Roy Mustang grew silent for a long moment, staring at the book as though he were angry at it.

"What's it say next?" Edward asked eagerly. He wanted the Stone so badly, and now that it was practically in their hands, he was getting anxious.

"Nothing," Roy said, puzzled.

"What do you mean, 'nothing?'" Edward demanded, standing up from the seat he had taken on the floor.

"Exactly what I said, Fullmetal. Nothing. The rest of the pages are blank."

"Blank?" Maes asked, scratching his head.

Roy nodded, and then Riza, who was sitting next to him the whole time, spoke quietly.

"Yes, the remainder of the book is empty. I always found it strange, but I thought the storyline was interesting, so I never brought it back to Miss Douglas and told her about it."

"Miss Douglas? You mean the Fuhrer's secretary?" Edward asked, taking a step towards the couch where Roy and Riza sat.

"Yeah, why?" Riza asked.

Edward said nothing, but his expression became contorted with anger, and what looked like regret, and then he looked to Al, who tilted his large metal head down.

"What's up, Edward?" Maes asked.

"The Fuhrer's secretary...Juliet Douglas... is a homunculus," Edward said at long last.

Everyone reacted with a gasp except for Roy, who put a thoughtful hand to his chin.

"That would certainly make sense. Think about it. If Douglas were a homunculus, she could definitely set something up like that. And it would make sense that she would give you two copies of the book, Riza, in the hopes that you would give one to me."

"But I don't understand why they would give you a book of all things," Alphonse said, looking up.

"Because they want me to remember where the Stone is," Roy said darkly. "And I do."

"Are you serious! Where is it?" Edward demanded, taking another step forward.

"At least, I think I know. I remember relating the picture in Andrew's bunk to that statue at the altar. But before I could do anything about it, we pulled out. Then, I forgot everything I possibly could about Ishbal, because I didn't want to think about all those things."

"Are you saying that the Stone could be at the altar?" Riza asked quietly, placing a hand on his.

"That would be to easy, wouldn't it? The military could've just waltzed in and taken it. A blood red stone on a sandstone altar is pretty hard to miss. But I think it has something to do with that altar. But I'm really not sure what."

"So let's go find out," Maes said as though he were now the leader of an army. "Let's get it before those things come and torture the information out of you."

"You're right, Maes," Roy said, sitting up straighter, only to wince in pain a little. "But you should stay here."

"What? Why?" Maes asked, sounding as though he were disappointed that he wouldn't be thrown in what would likely turn out to be a life-or-death situation.

"Because you have a family," Roy said, pointing to Gracia, who was holding a sleeping Elycia in her arms. "You have everything in the world to come back to, and if anything happened to you, they would be devastated. So I don't want to run that risk."

"But–"

"Your daughter is _four_, Maes. How do you explain that her Daddy was killed for a cause that could possibly not even exist?"

Maes looked at his friend for a long moment before he sighed, defeated, and gave a small smile.

"You're right," he said. "But you have something to come back to as well, so don't you go and get yourself killed, got it?"

Roy nodded and smiled confidently to his friend.

"I'm going," Riza said suddenly.

"What? Why– no, Riza. You really shouldn't," Roy protested, worry snaking into his voice.

"I _am_. I'm not going to let you do this alone," she said firmly, squeezing his hand.

"He won't be alone. Me and Al are going, too," Edward said with a small smile.

"Yeah," Al chimed in. "And you can be sure that we won't let anything happen to the Colonel."

"I don't want anything to happen to you," Roy whispered, running his hand along her cheek.

Riza stared at him for a long moment, a blush creeping onto her fair cheeks.

"But–"

"I wouldn't be able to live without you, Riza. If anything happened to you, I don't think I could live with myself, let alone at all. Please. I promise I'll come back to you."

"You'd better," she said before burying her head in his chest, soft tears falling down her cheeks.

* * *

Awww, ne? I couldn't help but have something with pure fluffage in it. As of now, it's become something symbolic for me, and I needed the last couple of paragraphs and lines for the last bit of the story, like the last two or three chapters I mean. You'll see what I mean. I'll try my best to update soon. The good thing is that I have a week off school now, so I'll probably have a lot of time in the mornings to write. As a sidenote, this story is currently 80 printed pages. I should also say, that this is my longest story by FAR, both by the standards of what I have and haven't released to you guys. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of The Sins that Bind Us. Please review and tell me what you think! Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

In the words of the JupponGatana song from Rurouni Kenshin, there is mention of Kamatari, the gay cross-dresser who is in love with Shishio. Kamatari wants to be Shishio's Number 1 woman. That's all that's important. Gay cross-dressers striving to be the Number 1 woman of an evil psychotic mummy who spontaneously combusts. (Ari would like to make it known that here at Fire Inc -Just for you, Rii-chan, remember?- we love Kamatari and all his cross-dressing goodness. After all, no anime is truly complete without a cross-dresser)


	34. Chapter 34

YAY! I finally got to write again! Ahaha! It's been a very very busy past couple weeks, and I haven't had the time to write for this story at all! Butyesterday morning, I was sorta in a mood, so I came down to write something in particular, and then I realized that if I wanted to write that part, I had to get to it first. So, with a heavy sigh, I set to work to set it all up. It was a bit of a challenge to write it, and I didn't even really finish it until I finished typing my brother's first section of his story, coz I promised him that I would. In any case! This is the beginning of the end! Muahahahahaha! Kidding -sigh- I felt dramatic for a moment there. But you'll see. You'll all see! Please enjoy!

* * *

Preparations made for the trip to Ishbal were made within the next two hours. Shortly after, it was decided that everyone should go home and rest, even the people who would not participate in the expedition.

"I'll stay with you, Roy," Riza said just as everyone started to make their leave.

"No," Roy said firmly, still laying on the couch.

"But– You're still hurt! You won't be able to do a lot of things with that injury!"

"It doesn't matter!" Roy said, taking hold of her hand and pulling her so that her face was merely inches from his own. "If those things come back for me, they are bound to try and attack again, especially if they found out that I remembered the location of the Stone. And if you're here, they'll attack you too, and I don't want to see you get hurt again. I couldn't bare it."

A long, frightened look was given to the Taisa from the beautiful young blonde. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she bit them back, bid them to steal away, back into her heart. The act worked, but she could not hide the fear that took refuge in her fair features.

"I know you're afraid, Riza," Roy crooned quietly, letting go of her hand and using it now to caress her cheek. "We're all afraid. But it's something that has to be done. I promise I will come back to you, so don't you worry, ok?"

She nodded softly, the tears threatening to come again, but she clenched her teeth tightly to forbid them entry into the world. With that, she saw a light, sad smile grace Roy's lips and he kissed her briefly before he leaned back again on the couch; exhausted.

Gracia walked over to Riza and took her lightly by the arm and gently led her away. The Hughes family were the last people out of Roy's house, Maes carrying his napping daughter and Gracia leading the distraught Riza away, whose face was fearful with the idea that this would be the last time she ever saw Roy again.

In a tree not too far away, a young figure, their form matching its perch almost perfectly, smirked.

"So he finally remembers. Looks like the fun is about to begin."

* * *

Ok, so this was a really really short section. Gomen! I have written more, but not enough to make another chapter, and in the next chapter, there are some things that I really want to happen, inspired by certain...-shifty eyes-... things -cough!- So! I couldn't post it together as one chapter. However, since I seem to now have weekends more free than I really want them to be, I will probably be writing quite a bit more...EVERY OTHER WEEKEND coz I gotta work now every other sat/sun apparently. (I learned this only recently btw) So ya. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please look forward for more to come, and Gomen one again that it was so short! Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Sometimes, you really just gotta throw down your cards, leap over the table and beat the hell outta the dealer when you have nothing but crap for a hand, because it is NOT just the way the cards come out, it's the freepin' dealer who's cheating!


	35. Desperation

Yay! So here is another chapter! I'm trying to make it so I update as often as possible. Maybe this will minimize the death threats I've been getting. Kidding Kidding. In any case, I am sure that someone will recognize a good portion of this chapter, as it was indeed inspired by that, and the first part of it was written the morning after. It provided a good way for me to kinda say something about it without really having to. But I should say that I'm really happy that I had the chance to finish this today, because it's been bugging me all week. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Roy had spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch. Time and again he glanced at the book, flipped through it, turned it over in his hands, flipped though it again. He stared at it listlessly, his mind far too overwhelmed for him to be showing much emotion towards it now.

"Why did it have to be me?" he wondered aloud.

The thought struck him as wrong, though. If it wasn't him, it would have been someone else, and that person may not have the capabilities to fight those monsters. But he couldn't help but think that this was terrible timing, especially considering that his relationship with Riza had only recently begun to escalate.

Later that night, he slowly rose from the couch and hobbled into the kitchen and got himself a small snack and some scotch, which he downed in two gulps. He poured himself another glass and this time took that and his snack into his bedroom, where he set the food on the night stand and flopped onto the bed. A small wave of pain washed over him then, and he cringed, but it wasn't bad, since he had numbed himself – if only a bit – with the alcohol, and for that, he was thankful. Then he took a small sip from the glass and sighed.

_You'd better..._

When Roy first heard the knocking, it was light, almost hesitant. He thought it was something down the street, and decided not to concern himself with it at first, but then the noise became frequent, loud, frantic. He groggily sat up and glanced at the clock. It was about one thirty in the morning. He scratched his head and stood up slowly, reaching for the light, only to realize that it was still on. With a small sigh, he walked down the stairs and opened the door, only to be shocked by what was before him.

There was Riza, breathing heavily, tears in her eyes, hands clasped in front of her chest.

"Riza?"

"Sorry..." she whispered. "I just...I just..."

Unable to say another word, she threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Taken aback, but not much unphased otherwise, he placed his arms gently around her, burying his face in her hair.

"What's wrong, Riza?" he asked quietly, speaking not above a whisper.

"I...sorry. I just...I..."

She held onto him tightly, gripping his shirt, nearly clawing the flesh underneath and sobbed heavily. Slowly, he led her over to the couch and sat her down, and when he sat down with her, she threw herself at him once again, burying her face into his chest.

It was quite a sight to see. Here was the beautiful and otherwise contained Riza Hawkeye; hair disheveled, clothes wrinkled, sweat dripping down her brow and tears down her cheeks, sobbing like a child, or rather, like she had just lost something very dear to her.

She was the only sound that rang out through the house. Her sobs, so full of fear and despair, would not calm or quiet. Roy could not help but think how terribly sad the sound was, and it was all he could do to not burst into tears himself. Other than her cries, nothing else was heard, and he said nothing. At long last, when she calmed a little, he stroked her hair, whispering quietly in her ear.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I'm sorry...to have bothered you so late at night."

"No, don't be sorry. It's all right. But how about you tell me what's wrong?"

"I..." She paused for a moment, took a deep breath. Roy could feel her lips part and move, back and forth, time and again, trying to form words, but she succeeded in succumbing to helpless sobs once more.

"Please don't leave!" she screamed at last. "I beg of you, please don't leave me! You may never come back...what if you don't ever come back! Please...just please don't leave!"

Roy was stricken by this, and his grip tightened on her, and his eyes, now an obsidian that was becoming dull and polished with the struggle to fight his own tears, narrowed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I have to go. If I don't, they'll keep coming for me, and that means that they might come for you too. If something happened to you... if I lost you... I don't know what I would do. I would probably not be able to live with myself. And so, I have to do this. I have to take care of this, so that you don't have to run the risk of being hurt anymore. I know you're scared, but don't worry about it so much. I promise I'll come back to you, ok? I promise."

"You'd better," she said between subsiding sobs. "You'd better come back. Because if you don't, I won't be able to go on. I refuse to go on without you."

"Don't say that," he protested as lightly as he could. A forced smile cracked his face, and a small chuckle that was full of anything and everything but laughter tapped his vocal chords. "If something happens to me, you _have_ to go on. There are people who depend on you, and Hayate needs his master.

But you also need to be able to go on for yourself. You're a strong woman, Riza. You and I both know that. And if you can handle everything you have been up to now, and have that same demeanor at work that tells nothing to anyone, then you can continue to do so. However, I wouldn't honestly recommend being so seemingly emotionless, even at work. If you need to express yourself, than you should every right to do so, without anything holding you back.

And that's why I'm glad that you are now. Sure, I hate to see you like this, and you crying has got to be the saddest sound and sight I've ever seen. But I'd rather you be crying now, before I leave, and telling me how you really feel, than to have you do so when I'm away. When I can do nothing for you at all, even in the earliest hours of the morning."

She said nothing. Her eyes were closed, and she was listening to his heart now, which pounded ferociously in his chest. The hands that had gripped him so tightly loosened now, and she relaxed ever so slightly, sinking into his embrace. Her sobs had subsided for the most part, although tears still fell in a stream to meet with the ocean of Roy's cerulean blue shirt. Then she felt something against her head, and recognized that it was Roy, running his fingers through her hair again, working around the tangles that had no doubt formed whilst she was running to his house.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again.

"Don't be sorry," Roy whispered into her ear. His breath against her flesh made her shiver, and she clung closer to him. "It's alright. Everything's going to be alright, ok?"

She nodded slowly, the tears subsiding. Roy's hand through her long silky locks became for graceful, and took to playing with the strands of gold.

"Just trust me, alright? I'll come back, safe and sound. In return, I just want you to stay strong, and be the same Riza I love. Let me come back to the beautiful, strong, Riza that I will love forever," he smiled as he gently lifted her chin with his index finger so that he could look into her eyes. "That's 'equivalent exchange,' isn't?"

She smiled lightly and nodded, her eyes bloodshot now from crying so heavily.

"Good. It's a deal then," he said.

With that, he brought her chin a little higher and pressed his lips to hers. Riza was surprised when she felt a single wet drop fell onto her cheek, and when she glanced at Roy, she saw the small transparent line that proved him guilty. Although just that single tear tore her apart, she closed her eyes and returned the kiss. She felt as Roy's hands, which were previously positioned in her hair and under her chin, moved behind her back to support her. Not that it mattered any. She found herself being lowered, sinking deeper and deeper into the couch until she was on her back.

The exchange between the two became passionate, hungry, desperate, and before either of them knew exactly what was happening, they pulled away from each other slowly, hesitantly, panting for air. One of Roy's hands was now entangled in her hair, disappearing under long golden strands. The other held one of her own, their fingers entwined tightly, as though both of them were afraid to let go. Slowly, he freed his hand from her hair and nestled her cheek in his palm, smiling.

"Look at you," he said with a serene smile. "So gorgeous. I can barely restrain myself."

"Then why do you?" she asked lightly, running her free hand through his hair.

"I wonder why," he replied with a smile, and then lowered himself to her, pressing his lips to hers again.

Once again, the exchange was almost desperate. It was as though both of them felt that, despite Roy's reassurance, he wouldn't come back to her, and if he did, he would not be the same, and therefore, neither would she. Slowly, tantalizingly, he ran his finger from her cheek, down her neck and along the side of her body. To her, the sensation was unlike anything she had ever felt in her life, and she moaned into his mouth, fighting the urge to bring him closer to her. The sound however, spurred Roy on, and he brushed his fingers delicately, deliberately, over her body. He was rewarded with another moan, longer than before.

It wasn't long before they became more frequent, and soon, they were both laying on the couch, Riza on Roy's chest, resting above his heart, which was going about a mile a second. Their breathing was laboured; but it didn't matter to either of them. Roy played with her hair again, but this time, his movements had an exhausted quality. He with the other hand, he tugged on the collar of his shirt.

"Is it just me, or is it really hot in here now?" he rasped as he struggled to get oxygen into his lungs.

"It could be hotter," she teased.

He laughed a little and shut his eyes, smiling serenely again.

"Yes, I suppose it could be." He lightly kissed her hair, and then looked about the room. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if the Philosopher's Stone is really what it's said to be. Maybe... maybe it's not as perfect as it is rumoured to be."

Roy didn't receive an answer. When he tilted his head up to look at her, he found that Riza had fallen asleep, a peaceful smile playing across her lips.

* * *

It was the birds outside that wakened young Riza Hawkeye. Her eyes didn't want to open at first, and she rolled over and tugged the blanket over her head, and groaned. Any minute now, Hayate was sure to come bounding onto the bed, jumping all over her, panting, barking and whimpering for her to get out of bed and take him outside. However, minutes passed, and she almost fell asleep again, but the birds sang louder, as though insisting that she get up. Slowly, she sat up and looked around, wondering why her pup hadn't tried to dig her out of the covers yet. Then she realized that the full sized bed in which she lay was not her own. The room was painted differently, and a desk replaced the dresser. No, she recognized this room. It was Roy's bedroom.

She got out of the bed and made it, then ventured out of the room. The house was lit with sunlight, which streamed into the house through opened curtains. A couple of the windows were open as well, and the calls over morning songbirds echoed throughout the downstairs. A cool spring breeze blew into the house through the openings, and made the air in the home smell fresh.

Stepping into the living room, where she last recalled being, she saw the couch had a blanket on it again. That must have been where Roy slept. But he was not present. Except for the chirping outside, no sound could be heard throughout the entire house, and there were no smells to suggest that breakfast was being made. The only evidence that she had not been the only one in the house the whole time was a fresh blood stain on the couch, where Roy had been sleeping.

* * *

Ooooo. So saucy! Hahaha. I really wanted to make this scene extremely romantic, since he's going to be leaving, on a 'life or death' trip situation thing. I wanted it to be like 'Will I ever see you again?' 'Maybe, and maybe not. But I promise I'll love you forever!' Kinda thing. But I guess that I really just love the fluffage. When I was writing Roy's speech, I really wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, and by the time I finished the speech, I decided that I should look over it and make sure it was powerful and didn't have any typos, since that would kinda take away from its...powerfulness. And so, when I got done with it, I couldn't help but laugh. I realized exactly what I was thinking of, or rather, what was in the back of my mind when I wrote it, and I couldn't help but find it... almost satiric I guess. I wonder if any of you thought that something _else_ was going on when the romanticness came. I thought I was going in that direction for a moment there, and then I was like 'NOPE! WRONG!' and went somewhere else.

In any case. I want to say that the end is coming. It's going to be exciting, but due to the fact that there's going to be some action, it's probably gonna take a while. Action seems to not really be my thing. In fact, if anyone has any pointers on how to write actiony fight scenes, please tell me! Anyway, I'm sorry for taking up so much space this time. Thank you for reading! Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Of all the interesting things in our world, one of the most intriguing would have to be the flavours of fruit. Ahhh yes, the fruit. Fruity things have such an... interesting and pleasing flavour, and quite often, one can taste that for a long time to come.


	36. Chapter 36

So I got to update sooner than normal, which means that two chapters might come out of this week! So that's pretty exciting. What you're about to read is page 85, and that makes me really really happy, because it's a landmark number for me. Actually, 40 and on was a landmark for me, but 85? WOW! It makes me excited to know that I can really write that much!

On a side note, I would like to comment on the last chapter. If you recall, I said that Riza was waiting for Hayate to come and dig her out of bed. I just _had_ to write that, because that is what my dog used to do when we wouldn't get out of bed. Especially if we hid under the covers. I wonder if it was like... a sport or something. In any case, I was in my little nostalgic zone when I wrote it. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!

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He was walking slowly now, out towards the train station. It was there that the three alchemists would meet. Something had happened last night, and although Roy could not quite place the reason, he was well aware that his wound was bleeding again. He had roughly bandaged it that morning, before leaving the house. Now, as he walked towards the outskirts of town, he held his abdomen, as though pressing his hand against it would stop the pain any.

When he arrived, it was about ten o'clock, and he leaned against one of the stone columns that supported the roof of the station. Edward and Alphonse rushed to him and guided him to the ticket booth, where they purchased three tickets to get as far out east as the train would take them. The train arrived within the hour and soon, the three alchemists were seated on the train, Roy feeling exhausted. In fact, due to the pain and exhaustion, he nearly passed out several times throughout the trip, but Edward and Alphonse kept him conscious.

"What's wrong with you, Colonel? I doubt a wound would make you this weak and pathetic," Edward commented, trying to rile up the taisa so that he would stay conscious.

"Nii-san!" Alphonse scolded.

"I was up late last night," Roy replied, speaking the words on a heavy exhale.

"Up late? Doing what?"

"Riza came over... at one in the morning."

"Oh! I get it now!" Edward teased in a sly voice. "Taisa, you dog, you!"

"She was crying," Roy said, ignoring Fullmetal's comments.

"Crying?" Alphonse asked, leaning forward in the seat he shared with his brother, which was opposite Roy's.

"Yes. she begged me not to come. She was so afraid. I... I've never seen such fear in her eyes before. Maybe I've never seen such fear at all. I really couldn't do much for her. And here I am now; I left her. I left her when she begged me so painfully not to leave. I promised her that I was going to come back to her but... I just don't know. I find it hard, every now and again, to believe in my own words. And if I can't believe in them, then why should she?"

"You _will_ go back to her," Edward said sternly. "You promised her that you would, and you will fulfill that promise, even if I have to kick your lazy ass all the way to Central to make sure that you do."

Roy stared at the young boy for a long moment, as though he were surprised that the blonde would tell him such a thing, let alone understand the implications of the situation that was boiling in Roy's mind. Then, he smiled.

"Thank you, Fullmetal," he said lightly. "It's good to know that I can count on you, even if you are to short to reach my 'lazy ass' to kick it."

"Who are you calling so tiny he barely stands knee-high to ant!" Edward bellowed, standing from his seat.

"Nii-san, calm down! You're disturbing the other passengers!" Alphonse coaxed, grabbing his brother's shoulders and trying to get him to sit down.

Roy couldn't help but laugh. His comment had indeed lightened the mood between the three of them. He was grateful for the change in ambience between them. It made it so that he didn't have to concentrate on the task that was ahead of him, or what the three alchemist would be met with. Most of all, he didn't have to wonder if he would be able to keep his promise.

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Sorry, I know that this was a short one. I had to wrap up a few things before they got to that place and did those things and...stuff. Sooo ya. This is my wrap up clear-all-ends kinda chapter sorta thing.

Anyway! I really need to learn to do good action scenes, coz they're comin up! Thanks for reading and until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

When you're gonna fail something, do it with style! Crash the car!


	37. The Reason for Hate

Wooo! So, I haven't nearly two months! Gomen! I've been quite busy as of late, spending a lot of my time either being with people, doing homework, or playing tackle football with those boys out in the field. And now the tests are coming, so I've been stressing a little about that, but I decided that I had tortured you all with suspense long enough and that I should give you another chapter. This one is considerably and actually two or three weeks in the making. I had started it when I stayed home one morning, and never got around to finishing it until today. I'm really sorry it's taken forever, and I am so thankful that you have been patient! So, anyway, here is the considerably-longer-than-Chapter-36 Chapter 37! Enjoy!

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The sands seemed to stretch out forever and ever over a horizon that could not be clearly defined. It covered everything; an old car that had been abandoned long ago was only peeking behind a hill of sand, what must've been a building once, and there a house...

The three alchemists were not yet in what was once Ishbal. It was still about ten miles from where they now stood. When they had gotten off the train in Yousewell, known as the 'Last Town to the East,' they stopped at the local inn, where Edward and Al were nearly swept from the ground, the residents of the town were so happy to see them again. The tired and still quite injured taisa had watched as the people surrounded the boys, asking them questions about their journeys, and were they there to stay for a while? If you need anything, just ask us! A small smile snuck onto his lips as he leaned against the wall in his observation. At long last, the crowd was quieted parted to reveal Edward and Alphonse seated at one of the tables, food having magically appeared in front of them. Roy listened as Edward explained their presence to the people.

* * *

"...and so you see, we have to get out to Ishbal. The taisa, there, Roy Mustang," Edward said, gesturing towards Roy. "He forgot something out there a very long time ago, and it's very important. Up until now, he had forgotten about it and its location, due to... Postwar Trauma, and he just recently recalled everything. So now we need to get out there to get it. But it's not only important, it's valuable, and there have been some people who have been trying to get to it first, and tried to get the information out of him. That's why he's hurt.

"The train would only drop us out this far, so that's why we're here..." Roy was grateful. Edward was covering all the bases so as not to create suspicion. "We plan to set out as soon as possible..."

"Nonsense!" the owner interrupted, placing a hand on Edward's shoulder. "Let us take care of you for a few days! We'll fix up your friend as best we can, give you plenty of food and water, rest you up, and when you leave, you can take one of our cars with enough food and drink to last for a week! What do ya say?"

Edward smiled nervously and glanced at the taisa for the answer, who smiled and gave a weak nod. "Sure."

The next few nights, the three were well taken care of, indeed. The town's doctor saw Roy every day at noon and again at eight in the evening, cleaning and redressing the wound and giving him a day's worth of pain killers. Edward and Roy ate until they were stuffed during mealtimes and slept like dead logs at night. One night, however, Edward could not sleep. When he was sure that the taisa or Al wouldn't notice, he slipped out of bed and tip-toed out as quietly as his automail would allow and slipped outside in his boxers and black undershirt.

The night was cool, and the moon was illuminating all the surfaces it touched, creating deep, menacing shadows. Edward was grateful for the soft breeze that drifted lazily through the desert town, even if it caused him to shiver a little as it touched his skin.

He had made his way to the outskirts of the town and lay in the sand, gazing at the moon and stars. Suddenly, something caught his eye. He sat up and narrowed his eyes, searching the dunes for the source of the movement. The only thing he could see was a palm tree in the distance. But wait... the only water source nearby was in the wells in the town, so there was no way palm trees could grow way out there in the desert. Besides, it wasn't as if they were in a tropical region or anything...so then, how could it be there?

During his pondering of the situation, the palm tree disappeared. Edward did a double-take and squinted in the direction he had seen it, but try as he might, he couldn't locate it again.

"What're you looking for?" a young voice asked behind him.

"A palm tree," Edward replied, not looking behind him, pointing in the direction it had once been. "It was right there a moment ago, and now it's gone."

"Oh yeah?" the voice asked.

Edward nodded. Immediately after, a kick to the back of the head that sent him flying about ten feet. Regaining himself quickly, and spitting sand out of his mouth, he stood, clapping his hands together and forming his wrist-mounted arm blade. He slid into a crude fighting stance, facing Envy.

"That's what you get for calling me a palm tree," the young-looking homunculus said.

In a rage, Edward rushed him, screaming as he did so. Envy sighed and jumped into the air, landing on the chibi's back, forcing him to the ground. He then took hold of his hands and pinned them behind him, far enough apart so he couldn't perform alchemy.

"Relax, Hagane-no-Chibi-san," Envy breathed. "I didn't come here for a fight."

"Like hell you didn't!" Edward growled, struggling to get free.

"I didn't," the homunculus repeated, stressing his statement with pressure on his left arm, which caused the chibi alchemist to grit his teeth. "I came out here because I was told to follow you. I really don't care about your precious little stone, but I do care about killing you and your brother. But orders are orders, so I haven't all that much of a choice. But I really don't care to fight you, so lay off."

With that, the homunculus released the chibi's arms and jumped off to the side, about eight feet away and sat down in the sand, gazing towards the horizon. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Edward sat up, watching him the whole time, coughed up more sand and then sat warily facing the same direction as his enemy, glaring at him from the corner of his eye.

"So, shouldn't you have killed us already?" Edward asked suspiciously.

"No," Envy replied simply, distantly.

When the homunculus didn't elaborate, Edward knew he would have to draw the answer out of him.

"Why not?"

"I'm supposed to follow you, I told you that. Or is your mind as short as your stature, O-Chibi-san?"

Edward was about to explode when he realized that if he did, he might end up eating sand again. Instead, he gave a heavy, aggravated sigh. "I know that, but you did. You probably know where we're going, and yet you have done nothing but follow us."

"Of course I know where you're going. Ishbal," the homunculus stated flatly.

"So, you could just kill us and go to Ishbal yourself, couldn't you?"

"I know you're going to Ishbal, but I don't know _where_ in that pile of ruin and sand you're going, and so I must follow."

Edward watched the homunculus for a very long time, with an almost shocked expression. There he was, sitting eight feet away from his worst enemy, and that person was just staring off into the distance as though he wanted to do nothing other than admire the scenery. Was this really Envy? Maybe he was dreaming? No, the pain that was still in his shoulder from it being pulled so tight was still there. But then, what exactly was going on? What did Envy really want?

"You know, O-Chibi-san, we are after the same thing, if you really think about it."

"What are you talking about! We're nothing alike!"

"We are, in a lot more ways than you might think."

"Ok, why don't you explain your amazing logic, then?"

"We both want to take some kind of revenge on that bastard."

"What? Who are you talking about?" Edward asked, turning his full gaze towards Envy.

"You know who," Envy said calmly, not looking at the chibi. "You've hated him since you were a child. You can't really put much of a face to his name, except for maybe what was in a picture, but you hate him nonetheless, and you blame him for your mother's death."

"You...you mean my father?"

"...You know, I was really disgusted when I learned that he had remarried and had two new children. After all, I was supposed to be his pride and joy. I couldn't understand it. When he had turned me down then, I ran off, and it was like... I couldn't handle it. And then she came to me, and offered me a purpose, and in the meantime, I harboured such a hatred for him. I plotted my revenge. And then he married again! Can you believe it?" Envy gave a small, satiric laugh and sighed.

"Y...you mean that we're... he is...your father?"

Envy only continued to stare out into the distance. He didn't speak for several minutes, and then:

"Congratulations, O-Chibi-san. You win the grand prize."

"And what's that?"

The homunculus did not reply. Instead, he stood and bounded away, leaving Edward to stare after him in wonder.

* * *

"Are you sure that's what happened? You weren't dreaming?" Roy asked as Edward completed the story of his encounter with Envy.

"Yes I'm sure. I have the bruise to prove it if you really want to see it," Edward confirmed angrily.

"No thanks. Alphonse, could you hand me some water?" Roy said, turning his attention back to how hot he was.

The car that the people of the town had given them for their use had proved to be spacious and comfortable, stocked full of food and water where no one would be sitting. Light blankets had been provided to them as well, along with small pillows for the nights. However, the vehicle would prove to be less than able to carry them the forty miles out to Ishbal, and broke down about twenty miles short of their destination. They had taken what they could carry, (Al carrying some of the items in his armour) and set off on foot about two days ago, but due to the heat, were forced to take frequent breaks, resulting in traveling only ten miles in said time.

Now, as the travelers gazed out over the hot ocean of sand, Roy began pondering about Edward's story as he drank the water Al handed to him. It was cold only due to being stuffed into a cooler filled with ice, along with a lot of other cold things, and then gently placed in Al's armour. Luckily for them, Al's armour seemed to repel a lot more heat than it absorbed. It rejuvenated his parched throat and he exhaled deeply when it had made its way down.

"So, Envy's father is your father, right?" Roy asked.

"I guess. Like I said," Edward said, scratching his head. He was in only his pants and boots, like Roy, the other clothing had been deemed too hot long ago. "When I asked him about it, all he said was, 'Congratulations, O-Chibi-san, you win the grand prize,' and then he disappeared when I tried to ask what he meant."

"So then, he's our half brother? I mean, if that's true," Al pondered aloud.

"Yeah. That would make him our half brother," Edward confirmed, placing a thoughtful hand to his chin. "But then... Why did he leave Envy's mother? What exactly happened in their family that made Envy a homunculus?"

"Maybe he left Envy's mother for the same reason that he left you," Roy hypothesized.

"Yeah. He ran away because he didn't care," Edward said bitterly.

"That's not true! He did care! There has to be some other reason he left!" Al said in defense of the father he never knew.

"Like what, Al? Another woman? It seems like he has a habit of doing that–"

Edward was interrupted when a hard metal fist slammed into the side of his face. He tumbled to the ground and then kneeled, finding the owner of the fist to be none other than his brother.

"Don't say that!" Al threatened. Edward was sure that, if he was flesh and blood right now, he would be crying. "Dad loved us! He left because he had to! Don't say that he didn't care or that he went to another woman or anything, because it's not true!"

Edward tenderly held his cheek for a long moment, staring at his brother. He could think of nothing to say, at least, nothing about his father that wouldn't make Al angrier.

"I'm sorry, Al," Edward muttered. He glanced quickly to Roy, who was regarding the incident with quiet patience, and a look that said that not only would he wait for them to work things out but he wasn't going to get involved. He looked back up to Al, still holding his cheek, and then his gaze fell onto the sea of sand that surrounded him. His golden orbs narrowed and long golden locks covered his face as he hung his head low. "I'm sorry."

Next thing Edward knew, he was being lifted and he realised that something cold was pressing against his cheek. He brought his attention to the source to find that Al was holding him as gently as he could, using his armour as a cold compress to calm the swelling.

"No, Nii-san. I'm sorry. I over-reacted. I know that you don't like Dad, but...please don't say that he left because he didn't care or anything terrible like that. I'm sure that he had a good reason, and in either case, we won't know unless we see him and ask him. I don't think that it's right for you to assume something like that, so please don't, ok?"

Edward sighed and leaned into the cold metal, a small smile making its way onto his face.

"Alright, Al."

"Well, if you two are done being romantic, I think we should go," Roy said, turning and wiping his forehead. "It'll be getting dark in a few hours, and we haven't made much progress today at all."

"What the hell do you mean by 'romantic!' He's my brother, you sick freak!" Edward screamed, pulling away from Alphonse and shaking an angry fist at the taisa.

Roy gave a small chuckle and shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk east. Edward stared after him for a moment and then growled, stamping after him. Alphonse smiled inwardly, knowing that the taisa was just trying to lighten the mood and make them forget the incident a little faster.

"I hope I'm right about you, father," he whispered.

"Al, come on!" Edward shouted from behind.

"Coming!" Al said as he started after his brother and the taisa, ready to face whatever came their way.

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First off, I never learned the spelling for Yousewell, so I never bothered with it much. Forgive me for that. Second, I want to thank you readers! I don't think I would have carried the story on this long without all your support! Also, thank you to those of you who gave ideas and tips about writing action scenes; I'm so grateful!

Next, just to be a bit of a gloat, I want to say that this is now 89 pages, and that makes me really, really happy. It also makes me realize that I haven't much of a life, but that's ok! Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you next time, so Until then, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Michael Jackson: The _new_ My Size Barbie.

-Please don't send me hate mail, Michael Jackson fans, it was one in the morning!-


	38. Arrival

Yay! Another chapter! That makes me incredibly happy. What else makes me happy? School will be over this week! -mini dances!- Haha, in any case, I'm trying to write more for you guys, so you don't have to wait two months for a new chapter. Besides, the story's almost done, and so it's getting a little easier to write...ok I lied, it's actually harder, but whatever. It'll get done either way. Well, in prevention of me rambling for too long, here is Chapter 38! Enjoy!

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Ishbal was a lot bigger than Mustang recalled. By now, his wound had at least stopped bleeding, and so the breaks were a lot less frequent, and so they reached the outskirts of the Eastern city a lot quicker than they would have had the taisa still been bleeding half of his organs onto the sand. Now they were in the centre, and the walk had taken a total of nearly two or three hours.

The buildings were mostly rubble. They had only spotted two or three buildings that were about as completely intact as it could be out there. Several buildings were still at least halfway erect, and the rest were generally piles of brick and everything else, their heights ranging from a couple of feet to a little taller than Alphonse.

Edward walked a step or so behind the other two, his mouth agape. He was not quite so sure what it was that continued to attract his attention. Perhaps it was the way the buildings were formed; out of sand-coloured bricks that blended the entire city with the sand that surrounded it. Maybe it was the amount of destruction that the city gave evidence to; was this all due to the military, or was this also a result of sandstorms and whatever else could plague a desert city?

Somehow, as they got deeper and deeper into the city, the road went from loose sand that must have been compacted when the city still breathed life, to a hard sand-coloured stone road. The steps of the three alchemists echoed throughout what once must have been streets, and they soon reached the very centre of the city.

They stood in front of a large church, still mostly visibly intact except for a part of roof that had fallen in. Around the huge structure was stonework that lay out in a circle around the sacred place, radiating outward. Remnants of market stalls were seen very slightly under mound of sand, the cloth of the uppermost part of them blowing in the wind that traveled through the city at its leisure.

"This must have been the central market place," Alphonse pondered aloud. "It makes sense that they would put it so close to the main church; you could leave your goods covered outside, go in the church, and when services were over you could just walk outside and start selling. And since anyone who could get to this church in time would be coming out at the same time, you were likely to get most of your business right then and there."

"That's right," Roy said, his voice just above a whisper. "That's almost exactly what they did, Alphonse. But we're not here for the market place. We're here for the church."

"The church?" Edward asked, finally free from his daze of admiring the city around him.

"That's right," Roy confirmed with a nod. "You see, Andrew left me a small series of clues when he killed himself. The first clue was in his suicide note, which he directed specifically to me. It stated, 'What their looking for is where the lost seek refuge.' Then, as I went to clean up his things, I found another note addressed to me in his stuff. It said that he couldn't take it anymore, despite knowing where it was, and so he told me to, 'Find it, and be happy.' Next to that note was a picture of a statue of Ishbala, their god.

"We both knew that the military was looking for something, and we knew that it must have been pretty powerful to get the military's attention. We hypothesized that this object could have the power to make all the terrible things we had and would have done better. And so we set out on our own journey, not only to find out what it was, but to actually find it, and have it for ourselves, and use it to make our own inner pain go away."

"That doesn't mean that the Stone is in the church!" Edward contradicted, his hands on his hips now.

"No, no. I get it, Nii-san. Those who are 'lost' spiritually often turn to religion, and so they seek refuge in the church. The picture of the statue proves that. And we know that the military was looking for a Stone, or even just a way to create it. So what if the Ishbalans already had it, and the military was just looking for it, the way that we are now? But they used a worse method than we do, of course. So it would make sense that the Stone is in the church, because that is indeed where the, 'lost seek refuge,' right Colonel?"

The taisa nodded, not looking at the boys.

"Yeah, ok. I see what you mean. The military would expect it to be in a base or with one of the heads of power; they wouldn't bother searching the church for it,' Edward concluded aloud.

"That's right," Roy nodded again. "Why would the Ishbalans hide something with so much power in a place that was meant to bring and keep peace? We as an army never thought it would be here, but when you think about it, it's the smartest place to hide it."

They stared at the huge structure in silence for long minutes, and then Edward broke the solemnity of the group, stepping forward, wiping sweat off his brow.

"Then what are we doing just standing here? Let's get that Stone now, before anyone beats us to it!"

Roy and Alphonse nodded in agreement and the small party of alchemists stepped towards the church. The climbed the several dozen steps up to the entryway, and Alphonse assisted Roy in opening one of the massive stone doors. With a nod, the three entered the church, their minds imagining exactly what the Stone would look like.

As the party entered, shuffling footsteps, dulled by the sand that covered the city a few centimetres each year, followed them, stopping behind a building no less than thirty metres away from the church. The person watched their entry into the building, waited for a few minutes, and took a step forward, hesitated, and then resulted to waiting again. Envy sat on the rooftop above, watching the figure debate their own entry, and sneered.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" the homunculus asked himself, standing and readying to launch himself from his perch.

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Ok well, this chapter is kinda short. But I did a lot of discreet plotting in this chapter. Most in the end. Ooo! I wonder who Envy caught? Why is that person there, and how did they manage to follow the Alchemists all the way to Ishbal without being seen? All the mysteries will be revealed in...some upcoming chapter. Those of you who want to guess are certainly welcome to do so! Anyways, thanks for reading! Until next time, Ja ne!

P.F. )Papaya Forts( hahaha! More suspense! -evil laugh-

Words of Wisdom:

For those of you who know Captain Planet... What kind of power is Heart? And Where does he go when he's not busy saving the world from misshapen evil villains who are trying to pollute the world? Maybe only Chibi knows...


	39. Pathway to the Stone

Soo...yay for not having school! It means that I get to wake up at 8 in the morning and write until...whenever I'm forced away from the computer, which is sometime after 10. Soooo! Here's another chapter. Yes, it is relatively short, but it's still a chapter and I'm still happy that I'm posting another one. I'm actually pretty excited! I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm in as much suspense as you guys! Ahahaha... anyway. Here's Chapter 39, so Enjoy!

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The inside of the church was still as gorgeous as it was when Roy had first stepped foot in it those many years ago when he was ordered to raid it. That is, taking into account the part of the caved-in roof and the thin film of sand that covered nearly everything. Aside from that, all the beautifully carved pillars and the statue at the altar looked marvelous, despite the years they had had to endure without any care.

"Ok, what next?" Edward asked, scrutinizing the entire interior of the building for a location where the Stone might be hidden.

"Well, I think the altar might have something to do with it," Roy said, starting towards the stone figure. "Andrew's stuff had a picture of the altar, after all, and I think he meant that it's somewhere near the sta– Fullmetal!"

Edward, easily the most eager of them all to get the Stone, had already rushed to the statue and began investigating it; climbing up to examen the figure, and when he could find nothing, and sat on it and crossed his arms, frustrated.

"Damn it!" Edward screamed in defeat. "It's not anywhere on the statue, and I'm not so sure it's _inside_ the thing. Maybe your friend was wrong...but... DAMN IT!" He slammed his automail fist against the stone of the altar beneath him. The contact produced a hollow sound echoing from it. He looked down, his golden eyes wide and he jumped from the altar, and tried to push it aside.

"Fullmetal, what are you doing?" Roy demanded, stepping up behind the chibi alchemist.

"It's hollow, Mustang! That means there's something underneath or in it! And I'm going to find out what!" Edward declared as he huffed and puffed against the stone, but to no avail. Within minutes, he gave up and sighed, leaning his forehead against it. "Damn it! It's too heavy! That leaves only one other option."

Slowly, he straightened himself and slapped his hands together. With a hopeful grin to the taisa, he placed his hands on the altar, and in a flash of blue light, it was gone, revealing a staircase that traveled beneath the church.

"Jackpot!" Edward exclaimed, wiping his brow.

"I wonder just how many Ishbalans knew that this passageway was here?" Alphonse pondered as he stepped up to look down the stairwell.

"Nevermind that!" Edward protested, indicating the passage with an open palm. "How did whoever knew about it get in and out? If it was too heavy to move, and I found no indication of a secret lever or anything of the sort, how could they have gotten to whatever is down there?"

"True," Roy said with a nod. "So it might mean that alchemy was used to move the statue to allow access to the area below it."

"But Ishbalans forbid alchemy in their culture! There's no way that could be true!" Al pointed out.

"True, but what if only a few select officials knew alchemy? As long as they didn't tell anyone about it, they wouldn't be exiled, and if the general public didn't know of it's existence, then they had no risk, right?"

"Right..."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, because it's not as though anyone could tell us," Edward concluded, stepping forward to the shaft. "All that's left is to find out what's in there."

"Right!" Al said, stepping behind his brother.

Roy nodded, his onyx gaze focused on the stairwell. There was no telling what be beyond what they could see. If this passage was to be kept secret from even the general public, then those who knew of its existence had to have had a way to protect it. Just how they had gone about doing so, Roy did not know, and it was this speculation that made him uneasy.

Without another word or thought, Edward boldly stepped onto the first step, hesitated for half a second, and began to descend. Alphonse followed close after him, and Roy, taking one last look of their surroundings. He could not help but think of the noise he had heard outside shortly after their entry; a loud thud and what sounded like a scream, cut off by some force...

"Come _on_, Mustang!" Edward called up impatiently. "We don't have all day for you to daydream about Ishbal! You can deal with your Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder when we're back in Central!"

Being called back from his thoughts, he was tempted to light the Fullmetal chibi ablaze, but that would require putting on his gloves, which were in his pocket. Plus, who knew what would happen if he did snap his fingers? But, as he followed after the boys, his hands slipped into his gloves, just in case he did need them.

* * *

Oooo, just a little bit more suspense for everyone! I think I need to do something whilst they're in the underground shaft thingy...something humourous... something exciting...something with...miniskirts. ok, maybe not. Or maybe so. Who knows? But we need some comic relief, and I think just Roy and Ed being in the same area could provide for a lot of that. In any case, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try to write more, since I'll have more time what with school ending and all. So, until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Corny movies about dead people eating living people really don't help to keep you awake. In fact, you kinda just want to go to sleep just so you don't have to watch it...


	40. Chapter 40

-fond sigh- So, how long has it been, ladies and gentlemen? About a month, ne? Well, forgive me! I got caught in a lot of things this summer, and I did write some other stories, which are 'Equivalent Exchange', 'Summer Antics' and 'Sand Panda No Jutsu.' And on top of that, I've spent a lot of time away from home this summer, which means that I have no time to write whatsoever. In any case, I think you guys should know that it took me forever to write this chapter, and I don't mean that it took me a month to get around to it. I mean it took forever to sort out the words and whatnot. But it's done, and finally, here is chapter 40!

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The bottom of the stairs gave way to a long hallway that seemed to stretch on forever, getting smaller all the way. There was no light to show the way, but even in the dusty dark, they could follow the hallway for a long while. The passage was lined with torches that must have been lit a long time ago in order to allow sight to those who traveled this way. In front of the first torch on the left was a circle with runes and intricate designs in and stemming several centimetres from its bounds. Roy stopped upon seeing this, and gazed at it for a long time.

"Why did you stop, Colonel?" Al asked, grabbing his brother and turning him around to backtrack to the taisa.

"Look at this," Roy said, pointing to the circle.

"It looks like a transmutation circle," Al pondered aloud. Edward nodded in agreement. "But it might not be, alchemy is forbidden to Ishbalans, remember?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out if it is," Edward said, placing his hands on his hips in impatience. "Touch it, Colonel."

After a moment's hesitation, the taisa placed one gloved hand atop the circle. Roy and Edward tensed and held their breaths, and Alphonse ceased movement of any kind. When nothing happened for the first few seconds, the two let out their pent-up breaths, and Alphonse relaxed the joints of the armour.

"I guess it's no–" Alphonse began, but before he could finish his sentence, a faint glowing peeked out from between the taisa's fingers and around his hand, and following quickly after, the torches lit, two at a time, down the long passageway.

"It worked! Alchemy! The Ishbalans used _Alchemy_!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"Not all of them, just the ones who knew about this passageway," Edward corrected. "They kept it a secret so that they could hide what they needed to and not get in trouble for it."

"That's an interesting way to hide it," Roy commented, pushing ahead of the boys and walking down the corridor. The Elric brothers followed close after him. "And in a church, no less. Right under their god's eyes."

The boys nodded to each other, and they walked on. As they advanced, they glimpsed rooms off to the side that were empty now, but they must have previously been filled with treasures, or maybe food, or ancient texts. An alcove to one side about thirty feet down the passageway revealed a stone table built into the walls, and upon that table was a statue that was like the one at the altar, but smaller. Beside it was a goblet, cobwebs lining its inside instead of wine.

"This damn pathway stretches on forever!" Edward complained loudly with a heavy exhale.

"Calm down, Nii-san," Alphonse half-pleaded. "We've only been walking for ten minutes."

"That's way too long for a passage under a church, we must be towards the outskirts of the city by now!"

"Whatever they wanted to hide must have been really important," Roy pondered aloud.

"The Philosopher's Stone _is_ important!" Edward pointed out with a tone that seemed to ask Roy how could he _not_ realize this as fact?

"Can we even be sure that the Stone is down here? I mean, sure, it might have been once, before and maybe during the war," Alphonse questioned. "But maybe when the Ishabalans that weren't killed abandoned the city, they took it with them."

"Well then, this was a fruitless search, and not only did we waste resources and time on this whole ordeal, but so did the homunculi."

Edward nodded slightly, and the stretched his arms with a yawn, as though he had just woken from sleep. "How much longer is this going to take? I can't stand just walking, it's like sitting; I can't do it for too long 'cause I get fidgety."

"I see something up ahead. It looks like a room," Roy said, pointing. "And it looks like this one isn't empty, like the rest. I can see boxes, too."

"Well then, let's go!" Edward shouted pushing ahead of Roy and darting ahead.

"Nii-san!"

"Fullmetal!"

Roy and Alphonse both gave chase and soon, they found themselves in the room. Edward was dusting off boxes with his gloves, and stopped doing so to look at what had accumulated upon them, and cringed when he saw that they were caked with ugly brown dust.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Edward said with a silly grin. "All the dust they kept was safe!"

"This is no time for jokes, Fullmetal," Roy chastised as he tugged at the top of a box. "I have a really bad feeling right now."

Edward regarded the struggling taisa for a long moment, and watched as sweat beat down his young face. By now, he hair was disheveled, he was still shirtless, like Edward, and dust and sand quilted his skin, making him look as though he hadn't bathed in a long while. The taisa couldn't get the box open, and neither could Edward, when he attempted to follow the older man's lead, even though they should have been weakened by time, and so he went to a spot in the floor just outside the door of the room, and clapped his hands together. Upon placing them on the floor, a blue light shone and he produced a hard stone crowbar, and he slammed it against the wall outside the door. It didn't break, and he smiled.

"Not the strongest thing in the world, but it'll work."

He repeated the process two more times, so that he had one for each of them, and stood up with them in his arms, facing the passage. It was then that he saw flickering, and one of the torches seemed to disappear for a moment, and he squinted into the distance, but saw nothing.

"Hmm...that's weird."

Thinking almost nothing of it, however, the young alchemist stepped back into the room, bringing forth the tools as though they were offerings. "How about we try these?"

The crowbars worked. Within minutes, the three were prying open box after box, searching its contents, and then moving it to a corner of the room where no boxes stood. Most of them held statues, pottery, flimsy old clothes, books and other pieces of everyday life. Some of them held nothing, and it was these that came open far more easily. Evidently, the Ishbalans had come here to remove things from the boxes before they left. This possibility discouraged Roy a little, as he thought that Alphonse's hypothesis might be true, after all.

It was shortly after this thought that he tugged upon the top of a box and inside of it was a smaller box. It was an elegant-looking box covered with deep red velvet and intricate gold-embroidered designs traveled across the surface. He stopped, gazing at it, and when he opened it, he discovered a small stone, not much bigger than the tip of his thumb.

"Congratulations on finding the Philosopher's Stone. Now hand it over," a voice demanded behind them.

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Dun dun dun! Some more... In any case, I love doing suspense, if you haven't noticed, so I thought that this would be a good way to end this chapter. Any guesses on the surprise guest of the alchemists? Any idea what's going to happen? Tell me what you think! In any case, I have to go and jam to music so, until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Is it right to laugh in someone's face if they hit you with a car and claimed to not have seen you, despite having bright pink hair? We think so, so laugh on, pink haired people. Laugh on.


	41. The Final Battle Begins

It's been more than a month, ne? Well, August was a busy bit of time, indeed! Vacation and so much else took up so much of my time! Also, it took a very, very long time to compose this chapter, because I had to decide exactly what I wanted to happen here and how I was going to go about making those events happen. The order, the descriptions, the dialogue. I mean, I never really think things through; I just write them and then edit it a bit, so it took a bit. I had to read some things over and decide, 'I don't want that there, it would be better here,' and stuff like that. Well, I think there's only about two or three more chapters after this, I'm rather sad to say. Hopefully, I can get them done quickly enough before the full swing of school catches me and I lose that time to do it. In any case, here's chapter 41! Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

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The three-person party of alchemists turned towards the voice, which was located in the doorway of the room. There stood Envy, a grin upon his face which rivaled that of the devil himself. Everything about him, from his smile to his posture, oozed malice, and Edward and Alphonse immediately took defensive stances. Roy however, moved his gaze to what was caught in the grip of the homunculus's right hand. It looked like...hair. Yes, long hair extended from his hand to a head that was lowered. The head became a neck, which soon connected to a tall, slender body. Taking a closer look, the tresses became golden, silky, and the taisa could almost feel them in his own hands. They belonged to none other than–

"Riza!" Roy screamed. He took a step forward, clutching the Stone in one hand, the other ready to snap and set the homunculus ablaze.

"Stop right there!" Envy threatened, yanking the hair, and Riza, upwards. The scream of pain that followed seemed to burn Roy's ears off, and for a second, it was as though he felt her agony as clearly as she did. "The closer you come, the more I will be tempted to kill this lovely young woman.

Envy paused and watched with satisfaction the look of horror on Roy's face, and his grin grew wider as the man relaxed into obedience.

"Good. Now just hand me the Philosopher's Stone, and I'll let you have her back."

"Don't listen to him, Roy!" Edward said with a growl. "He'll kill her after you give him the Stone! You can't trust him as far as you can be definite about its gender!"

"Shut it, Pipsqueak!" Envy growled back. "You can't refer to me with a masculine pronoun and then call me 'it!' That's contradicting yourself."

The two then busied themselves with throwing insults at each other, which was convenient for Roy, because it gave him the opportunity to slink forward towards the homunculus. He did not go unnoticed, however, and when Envy spotted his movements, he yanked Riza up quickly, causing her to cry out again. Roy stopped and grit his teeth, and, without fully realizing what he was doing, began to hold out the hand that held the Philosopher's Stone.

"No, Roy, don't!" Riza screamed, struggling against the grip of the homunculus. "Please don't give him the Stone!"

"Shut up, girl!" Envy demanded, throwing his knee into her chin. Her head flew upwards, and exceeded the length of her hair, and Envy released the golden locks and let her fall to the ground next to him. He stooped next to her and growled into her ear. "Stop meddling in this business before I decide to kill you _before_ I get the Stone."

"Riza!" Roy took a step towards her, worry beading down his forehead in the form of sweat.

"She's alive," Envy said with complaint in his voice. "So stop coming towards her like you could save her before I killed her. Now, about that Stone."

The homunculus took a couple of steps forward, extending his slender hand.

Roy's attention was on Riza still, and he gripped the Stone tightly in his fist. He became aware of Envy creeping towards him, holding his hand out for the Stone, and he took a step backwards. A minute or so of this turned into an angry explosion from the shape-shifting being.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you pathetic human!" Envy screamed, anger holding him fast to where he stood. "Don't back up and ignore me like you have the upper hand, here! I'm faster than you, more alert than you, _better than you_. There's no way in Hell you can beat me. So why don't you be a good boy and give me the Stone, and I'll let the two of you live for a while before I kill you, eh?"

Roy's entire body was racked with fear, not because of Envy's declarations, but because Riza still had not moved, and he was beginning to fear the worst. If Edward was right, he couldn't trust the beast when he had stated that she was alive. He glanced to Edward, who gave him a look and he returned it. With a boldness he tried desperately to renew, he fully faced the homunculus.

"If you knew where to find the Stone, why did you need me?" he asked Envy, taking another step back.

"We _didn't_ know where it was," Envy stated, regaining his deadly smile as he followed suit and took a step towards the taisa. "We knew only that you had learned where it was during the war, and then had pushed it in the way back of your mind so you could try to forget the 'horrors' of the war.

"Shortly after learning this much, it was discovered that a prophetic book was discovered amongst the ruins of this city, and so we went about obtaining it. We did within a few months and, leafing through it, our master realized that it was about you, and everything you went through. However, as much as each one of us scoured its pages, we could not find out the location. We had an idea, I mean, we realized it had something to do with a church or something and we knew that the altar was a clue, but I mean, come on! Every church here has a statue of their god like the one found here, and just as big, so there was no way of knowing which one to search. We could have searched all of them, but it was easier to remind you about it, and have you do that work for us.

"In order to do that, we took that book and altered a few bits and pieces, but keeping all the essential parts intact. We gave it to Riza through one of our own, giving her two copies, knowing that she would be likely to share it with someone. We gave her the idea of sharing it with you. We told her that it was a good novel about a man who changed throughout a morally difficult ideal, and it was probably something you would like.

"Lo and behold, she followed according to our plans without any further persuasion! She's such a good girl. And luckily for you, the book forced you to remember the location, because if it didn't, well, we might've had to resort to measures that are too gruesome for words.

"What's that look for, Colonel? You thought that at least some of it was in your control? You upset that you were forced to remember the terrible truths you had tried to forget? Don't count on forgetting for too long. We are all bound by our sins, Colonel. We can never escape them for long; they will always come back to haunt you."

The smile on Envy's face was a frightening thing, very much like that of the devil, if he did exist. However, now a small smile crept onto Roy's face. Conveniently, Envy had focused on the taisa during his entire speech, and had not noticed that Edward was creeping to Riza. By now, the young alchemist had reached her and was bent over her, testing her pulse. Roy risked a glance in their direction, and watched with relief as Edward gave him a thumbs-up sign, indicating that she was alive.

"What are you smiling for?" Envy demanded, watching the man's face with a frown.

"You no longer have the upper hand, Envy."

Looking behind him, Envy gazed with dismay as he saw the chibi alchemist kneeling with the woman. After a moment, he growled and turned them.

"You bastard," he growled. "How dare you creep behind me? How dare you take my advantage? I'll show you, Pipsqueak, that you can't take advantage of me for long!"

With that, he charged towards Edward, his arm shining with a small light as it transformed into a blade. Alphonse got in front of them, taking a defensive position, and the homunculus grinned.

"You think _you_ can stop me!"

"Not head-on!" Roy shouted as he tackled Envy from the side.

The two rolled on the ground, wrestling to get control of the other. Envy became livid, and shouted acidic words at the taisa. At long last, when the two had rolled what Roy judged was far enough away, he kicked the homunculus in the stomach, sending him away from him, and stood.

"You will not get to Fullmetal or Riza without getting through me."

Envy coughed for a moment, and then stood as well, facing the man with a grin.

"So be it."

Envy charged at Roy, the hate in his eyes making them seem like orbs of flame. Once within range, he swung kick after kick at the taisa's head, but Roy dodged them easily enough. The last attempt to kick him was foiled as Roy caught the foot when it was inches from his face and hurled Envy away. He flipped in the air and landed with a skid on his hands and feet, and then charged again.

Edward watched with amazement as the two battled it out. Surprisingly, the taisa was reserving his alchemy, and fighting the being in hand-to-hand combat, which the young alchemist had no idea that Roy was capable of, least of all at the skill with which he battled the homunculus.

A kick to the chest sent Roy backwards, and as he sailed through the air, he snapped his fingers, sending a burst of flame towards Envy, who dodged it easily. The taisa recovered quickly, and was on his feet again when Envy came inches from his face.

"You can't get me again with those flames of yours," he sneered. "I won't be caught like that another time."

The battle raged on, and lasted for a good while. Riza moaned about five minutes in and her head shook from side to side, slowly, as though trying to shake dizziness from her.

"Riza!" Alphonse said with surprise, still in a defensive stance, although it was slightly more relaxed.

"Don't try to move too much, you might make yourself pass out again," Edward advised, not truly knowing if that was true.

Slowly, Riza sat up, placing a hand gingerly to her jaw and cringing at the pain that surged through her with just that touch. With weary eyes, she turned her gaze towards the fight, and they widened almost instantly.

"Roy...!" she whispered in a desperate tone.

"Don't worry, the Colonel is a good fighter; he'll be alright," Edward assured her.

"Yeah, he's got Envy, no problem," Alphonse agreed.

Just as those words escaped the young boy's mouth, Envy sent Roy backwards with a kick to his face. Before Roy had the chance to recover, Envy was running towards him, his arm a blade again. At that moment, all three of them knew that the taisa would not be able react in time.

"Roy!"

Dazed, Roy turned towards the young alchemists.

"I've got you now!"

The sound of flesh pierced by the homunculus's blade and the splash of blood as it hit the floor echoed loudly off the walls of the room.

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Ahhh, a little more suspense for you readers. It really is something fun indeed. Please, please don't kill me for it. It keeps you reading, so it helps Ari a little... I get motivation! That's good, right? Anyways, as I said before, this was a hard chapter to write. I had some problems with the action scenes, and I guess they still need some work, but I'm too lazy to do it, so please forgive Ari. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please stay tuned for the next installment! Until next time, Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Sometimes, it's just necessary to draw a comic about Wrath. Somewhere along that line, it just stops making sense, and that's when the real fun starts, because Kamiya Kaoru makes a good stand-in. Make sure you point to the anger.


	42. In Joy and Sorrow

Chapter 42. It says a lot to Ari. It says that I haven't much of anything else to do with myself but write 42 chapters. That's ok. It's fun. Maybe it'll help me to be a writer. A published author. My goal... anyways. This was actually really easy to write, with the exception of the last fight scene. I had everything planned out, and it was perfect. Or..maybe. In any case, this chapter is done. Enjoy.

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The sound of all that blood spilling to the floor was sickening, and Edward had to fight the contractions his stomach made to rid itself of its contents. His eyes, however, could not be kept away from the scene. His right hand was to his mouth, hoping that would control the urge to be sick, and his hair was matted to his face in some places from the sweat that beaded down his young features. Slowly, his lips moved, and he tried to form the single word that was on everyone's mind, but he was beaten to it.

"Riza!" Roy shouted, his voice shrill with panic and pain.

In front of the taisa was the woman he loved, crimson blossoming from her bosom. Her eyes were narrow as she slowly slipped farther and farther away from life, and she slowly began to slide off of the blade that currently pierced her heart. Before she fell entirely, Roy caught her, and gently held her in his arms, her head against his chest. Envy stepped back and watched the scene with a sense of both satisfaction and surprise.

"Oh god...Riza...no," Roy muttered, tears that he could not control streaming down his dirt caked face.

Her amber eyes, which had closed as Roy caught her, now opened a little, and she coughed, blood forcing its way from her lips. It splattered onto Roy's chest, but he did not cringe. Rather, he stroked her hair.

"I– you're safe. I'm so glad," Riza whispered weakly.

"What are you talking about! I would have been fine! But now look at you! Oh god, Riza... Why did you do that?"

"I didn't want anything... terrible to... happen to you.."

"What about you? Did you think that it didn't matter to me if you got hurt? I care about you more than anything in the world, and for you to get hurt like this hurts me more than if Envy had pierced me instead."

She was silent for a long moment, and Roy was afraid that he had lost her, but she coughed again and smiled sweetly.

"I love you, Roy. Don't you ever forget that."

"Of course I won't forget," he sobbed. "And you know that I love you, too. And when this is all over, we can spend the rest of our lives together. Everything will be wonderful, you'll see."

"I _do _see it, now. I am so glad that I can spend my last with you. It's all I could ever ask for."

Blinded by tears, Roy leaned down and kissed her, gently. He was surprised when she returned the kiss, although weakly, and then again when her response suddenly ended.

"Riza? Riza, say something. Please. You can't go yet. Please!" Roy shouted, his voice racked with fear.

He knew that it was too late, however. He had felt her sag in his grasp, and had felt her breathing stop when she had stopped kissing him. He shook his head, muttering, 'No, no,' to himself, over and over again. At long last, he cried out, his head falling onto hers, sobbing heavily.

Alphonse seemed to crumple a little, as though he could no longer sustain the weight of the armour, and Edward felt a tear roll down his cheek. Both of the young alchemists stood in disbelief, not knowing what to do or think. Laughter rung out through the room.

"Oh wow! Humans sure are stupid creatures!" Envy said, laughing hysterically. "She sacrificed herself for you, even though you're going to die anyways! Her death was in vain. Even if you revive her with the Philosopher's Stone, I'll just kill her again. Besides, I'll kill you before you even get the chance to use it."

Roy, who was sobbing quietly now, but quite visibly shaking, said nothing. Envy, taking this as being ignored, walked up to the grieving man and kicked him in the side of the face, sending him to the floor. He was still gripping Riza's body tightly as he fell, but presently, he set her down and stood weakly, his head hanging low. Envy grinned and stepped towards the man.

The fight that ensued was mainly one-sided. Envy took the liberty of pounding the crap out of Roy, and took great amusement when, no matter how terribly bone-crushing the blows could have been, the man continued to stand up.

"What's the matter, Big-Shot-Hero-of-the-Ishbalan-War?" Envy taunted. "Can't fight now that your little girlfriend is dead? You're better off without her, I think."

Something in Roy seemed to shift, and before Envy could fully comprehend what was happening, Roy was landing blow after blow upon him. Startled, he backed up with each strike, and grinned.

"As though this'll work!"

But that was not the full extent of Roy's attack. With another fist to Envy's face, he brought up with other hand and snapped, wrapping the homunculus in a flame more vicious than anyone had ever seen before. Envy, taking off guard, howled in pain as he ran about the room, knocking into boxes.

Taking this opportunity, Edward ran towards the homunculus and punched him, sending him into a wall. Clapping his hands right after hitting his mark, he placed them on the wall, and in a flash of alchemical light, Envy's limbs were seized by stone, and one piece thrust through his heart. He was still in flames, and this new pain forced another howl from him. Another clap and another flash of light and stone encased the homunculus, strange markings snaking its way on the coffin.

"This was the same marking that sealed Greed," Edward muttered, loud enough for Roy and Alphonse to hear. "Apparently, it has the power to seal a homunculus. I don't have anything from his remains, but hopefully it'll work for at least a little while. At least we can't hear him scream anymore."

Turning around, he saw Roy kneeling on the ground, placing Riza's head on his lap. Tears were staining his face again, and he shook with the force it took to control his sobs. Edward walked towards him, his expression sullen. As he went to place a hand on the man's shoulder, Roy held his hand out to him. In his palm was the Philosopher's Stone.

"This is what you've been searching for for so long," Roy mumbled. "So here, take it, and return your bodies to normal."

Edward's eyes widened, and he looked to Alphonse. He went to reach for it, but stopped before his hand moved even an inch. He smiled sadly and shook his head.

"No, Roy. Not until you use it. Bring Riza back."

Roy looked up at him, his eyes, which were usually a polished onyx, wide and dulled by pain. Slowly, he took his gaze from Edward and allowed it to travel to the Stone, and then back to Edward. The boy nodded, and Roy clenched the Stone in his hand, and then moved it towards Riza.

"Come back to me, Riza," he whispered.

Crimson light filled the room, and the three shielded their eyes. It lasted for a long moment, and then diminished. Roy looked at his hand; the Stone was gone. He stared, puzzled as to where it could have gone, when his thoughts were interrupted.

"Roy!"

Riza wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled herself up and kissed him. Surprised and filled with joy, he returned the kiss fiercely, tears of happiness now cascading down his cheeks.

"It worked!" Roy gasped when they had parted. He hugged Riza tightly, pressing her against his chest. "Oh thank God it worked!"

Edward smiled; he couldn't help but be filled with joy as well, even though he knew that the Stone was gone. He turned his smile to Alphonse.

"Guess our journey continues, ne?"

Alphonse nodded absently, unable to draw his gaze away from the happiness that played out in front of him.

A voice called out suddenly from the passageway.

"Roy? Ed? Are you guys in there?"

"Hughes!"

Edward rushed to the door of the room and waved his hands.

"Down here! We're at the end of the hall!"

The sound of footsteps filled the passageway, and soon Hughes and several other officers appeared at the entrance of the room. They saw Roy and Riza, happily embracing each other, sobbing. They saw the puddle of blood beneath them, but neither of them seemed to be injured in a way that would produce that much blood. Boxes lay open and strewn across the floor of the room, and a large stone pillar took up a good portion of the far wall. Maes smiled, his hands on his hips.

"Good grief. What the hell happened here?"

Roy and Riza both looked up at the Lieutenant Colonel, smiles still painted on their faces. The one on Maes widened and he winked at Roy.

"How about we get you guys out of here and back to civilization?"

The group was led out of the church and into a military vehicle, where the process of transporting them back East City began.

Roy and Riza fell asleep in each other's arm, and whilst they slept, Edward and Alphonse spoke with Hughes.

"How did you know where to find us?" Edward asked. "All Roy said was something about a church and an altar. There are a lot of churches here, how did you know it was this one?"

Maes smiled, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I know Roy better than anyone, so when I got to his house a few mornings ago and saw that he wasn't there, I knew he came for the Stone. He said he would, anyways. But I knew that he thought that I would come, and so he left me a message, next to a bottle of whiskey."

"And so you came here? But how did you get military people to come with you?" Alphonse asked. "You very well could not have told them that Roy was after the Stone and needed help, right?"

"Right. I simply took a group of off duty officers with me, so I wouldn't have to file a report, and told them that those loyal to Roy Mustang should come with me, since he was probably in danger. All of them jumped at the chance and now, here we are."

The rest of the trip was filled with a detailed explanation of what happened, and Maes smiled when Edward finished the story.

"So you let Roy use the Stone to bring Riza back to life instead of using it yourselves. That's pretty grown up of you, Edward," Maes commented, his hand on his chin.

"I had an idea that the Stone would disappear after he brought her back. But it seemed like it was more important to give her back her life than to restore ours to normal. I mean," Edward looked at his right hand. "We're still alive, and it would have been wrong to deny Riza hers for our own selfish reasons."

"Well, I'm sure Roy appreciates it. Maybe he won't show it, but he does."

Edward smiled and leaned against the side of the vehicle, drifting away into a sleep that was deep, peaceful and dreamless.

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Awww, how sad did this chapter make you guys? I was sad whilst writing it! I nearly cried! It was terribly depressing, but it had to be done. No one will hurt Ari for it, right? Right? Ari hopes not. Anyway, the next chapter is right now, so turn the page or..something!

Words of Wisdom:

It isn't always wise to take the car in a high speed chase with the sea otter. That thing is fast and slippery, bound to go around corners a lot better than you.


	43. Forever

OMG! It's chapter 43! Do you guys know what this means! Do you! It means— it's chapter 43! I'm kidding -partially-. It means that this is the last chapter. No, you would not have known that unless I told you or until you got to the end, but whatever. In any case, this is indeed the last chapter. It's One Hundred and One pages long, on Ari's computer! Which is really amazing. The longest story Ari ever wrote before was 36! So this is certainly a landmark. Anyways, enjoy the end of The Sins That Bind Us.

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Sleep was not a necessity for the returning Roy and Riza. They returned to his house, and had no sooner walked in the door than they were in each other's arms, kissing each other fiercely. They had staggered across the living room in this manner, and when they parted, he smiled. Without a word, he lifted her into his arms and carried into his bedroom and tossed her onto the bed. He hovered over her for a long moment, and she noticed all the bruises and scratches that covered his body.

"You must be in so much pain..." she had commented worriedly, placing a hand on his cheek.

"I don't care," he replied before descending on her.

Now, as they lay in each other's arms, their bodies glazed with sweat, they smiled at each other peacefully. Roy leaned over and kissed her gently.

"I love you so much, Riza."

"I love you, too, Roy."

"Stay by my side, forever."

"Forever is not long enough."

His eyes narrowed and he kissed her again.

"You know, Envy said that we are all bound by ours sins, but when I'm with you, I feel as though those strings have been cut, and I don't ever have to worry about it again."

"Good. Then think no more of the war, or of the past, because none of those matter anymore. I love you for who you are; it doesn't matter who you _were_. So, think only of now, and our future together."

The two fell asleep in each other's arms again, smiling, their lips just barely touching in a kiss that lasted the rest of the night.

The End

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Ta-da! So, this is the end. -sniff- I must admit, it makes Ari a little sad that this is really the end of The Sins That Bind Us. I spent nearly two years on this story (I think), and it was really a lot of fun! I hope you all enjoyed the story, and thank you all so much for reading! There might be a sequel, Ari doesn't know, but for now, she's going to continue to write short stories, so I hope you read those, too! In any case, thanks again for reading, it's been a pleasure. See you next time! Ja ne!

Words of Wisdom:

Whipped Cream. Enough said.


End file.
